Blackheath Modernist Houses Walk

Designer and author Stefi Orazi has produced 'Perambulations', a series of  risograph walking guides to modernist houses covering different parts of London (and indeed Brussels). As a lockdown treat we explored Blackheath with map in hand, an area known for 20th century housing from Span Developments 'as well as several individual houses by Britain’s most revered modernist architects including Peter Moro, Patrick Gwynne and Walter Greave'.

(detail from map)

Yes we saw lots of cool modernist buildings and some very grand older ones too. But the real adventure to be had from following somebody else's map is that it takes you to places you haven't seen before. I thought I knew Blackheath reasonably well but there were whole streets and estates I was unaware of.

Morden Road SE3

Sometime Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan lived at 17 Montpelier Row SE3 in the 1970s. Looks to me like the picture below may have been taken at back of the house.

(The latest in the Perambulations series covers West Dulwich and Forest Hill) 

London Bus Garage Models

Perhaps a bit of a niche product, but if you're stuck for a present for the public transport enthusiast in your life you could always buy a model card building kit of Catford bus garage...

...or Nunhead bus garage (now demolished - was at 20 Nunhead Lane):

...or Peckham bus garage (demolished in the 1990s, it was on the site of the current bus station by Morrison's):

(all from Kingsway Models)

Johnson caves in to Convoys Wharf Developers

The plans by Hutchison Whampoa to redevelop the former Royal Dockyard site on the Deptford riverfront at Convoys Wharf have been widely criticised. Essentially they offer an identikit riverside tower block scheme with cursory social housing and little reference to the site's rich history, not to mention a huge impact on the local transport, health and education infrastructure. Lewisham Council has been considering the latest planning application since a revised Masterplan was submitted in May 2013.

Now even the limited  influence the community has through the Council's planning process has been taken away by London Mayor Boris Johnson. As revealed in Building Design today, Johnson has 'called in' the project, which means that he will decide if it goes ahead rather the local Council. As the headline in Building Design makes clear ('Boris grants developer's wish and calls in £1 billion scheme'), this follows lobbying by the developer who claim that Lewisham has been dragging its feet for five years. Strange as the developers made a big point that they were offering something new and refreshing when they put in the lastest plan less than six months ago - though as Deptford Is... explains there is little to choose between the 'new' Farrells masterplan and the previous Aedas masterplan. Both 'proposed 3,500 homes, three towers above 32 storeys, 2000+ parking spaces, shops, a hotel, some green space, and a nod to the history of the site'.

Whether there is any connection between Johnson's decision and his recent courting of Chinese capital is unclear. The developer is a Hong Kong-based company with a history of business interests with Convoys Wharf's previous owners, News International. The latter's Rupert Murdoch is of course another mate of Boris.

The years of phoney war about Convoys Wharf may soon come to an end, with Johnson likely to try and push through the plans in spite of local opposition. Campaigners for preserving the site's heritage as a ship building site and a garden have been effective in raising these issues, but there are also wider concerns  at stake which will impact very directly on everybody living in the area. Fundamentally its about whether the site is developed in a way which responds to the needs of local communities, including low cost housing, or whether this critical site is turned into a dormitory for the very wealthy - with most of the flats no doubt snapped up as a property investment by people who never live there and have no interest in Deptford.

History Corner: WW2 Stretchers as Railings

Mereton Mansions in Brookmill Road, Deptford was formerly Carrington House, a homeless hostel. The railings outside have an interesting history too - they are made from metal stretchers used by ARP (Air Raid Protection) during the Second World War.

Similar examples of this recycling can be found elsewhere in London. I spotted these on the East Dulwich Estate:

See also The Great Wen on World War 2 Railings - he mentions that there are similar railings in Harleyford Street SE11. There is an interesting discussion on flickr too with pictures from elsewhere, and some detail that confirms this is not just an urban myth. In fact here's a photo of one of the stretchers in action:

from Wartime Memories by Ruth Durrant - note the stretchers
(this picture was taken on one of the River Emergency Service boats in the Second World War,
which operated from Cherry Gardens Pier in Bermondsey)

Open Shipwrights House

It's London Open House this weekend, so lots of opportunities to visit interesting buildings many of which are usually closed to the public. In Deptford, the magnificent Master Shipwrights House on the river front will be open all weekend (entrance on Watergate Street)

The garden of the Shipwrights House last night - the cannon was dug up at Potters Fields by Tower Bridge. Why is there a replica of the Deptford anchor there? And why is the real Deptford anchor currently in Convoys Wharf?  Go along this weekend and ask!

This year is the 500th anniversary of the Royal Naval Yard at Deptford, and this is the oldest building remaining from it - the home and office of the master shipwright  since 1513, remodeled in early 18th century. Today they will be highlighting the proposal to build a replica 17th century ship (The Lenox) as part of the planned redevelopment of Convoys Wharf - the remainder of the dockyard site next door. 

In fact at 10:30 this morning there will be a  Build the Lenox press call featuring 'Samuel Pepys' and 'Henry VIII' and the firing of a cannon. Horrible Histories stars Ben Willbond (who lives in Deptford) and Larry

Rickard will be taking part.

Convoys Wharf  itself will also be open as part of Open House, from 11 am to 4 pm today only.

More information about Convoys Wharf at Deptford Is?

Previous Transpontine posts on Convoys Wharf for more history and the ongoing saga of the dubious plans for this site.

See also: Crosswhatfields? and Deptford Dame

The Walpole Vanishes

The Walpole Inn in New Cross Road has now been completely demolished. It closed last year, and planning permission has been granted for a hotel to be built there.  The adjoining buildings that lately housed the tattoo parlour and hairdressers have also gone.

When I went past a couple of months ago, most of it had already been taken down...

...but through the scaffolding traces of the pub could still be seen:

Now it has vanished completely....

The tattoo parlour at no.405 New Cross Road must have been a tobacconists' in the past, as it had an old hanging sign of a tobacco roll outside. These are quite rare, and the interior of the pub also featured a wall of late 19th century majolica tile (pictured here in previous Transpontine report)

Tobacco roll sign outside the now demolished 405 New Cross Road

A condition of the planning application being granted by Lewisham Council was that both the tiles and the tobacco roll sign from next door should be retained in the proposed Hotel:

'11) A schedule of works for the dismantling of the faience tiled wall in the bar of the existing public house and its erection within the hotel hereby approved, shall be submitted to and agreed in writing by the Council and all works which form part of the schedule shall be implemented before commencement of the use, unless the Council has given its written consent to any variation. 

12) A schedule of works for the dismantling of the tobacco roll hanging sign on the front elevation of 405 New Cross Road and its erection on or within the hotel hereby approved, shall be submitted to and agreed in writing by the Council and all works which form part of the schedule shall be implemented before commencement of the use unless the Council has given its written consent to any variation'.

The architects for the Walpole scheme did submit a plan in February 2013 for the removal of the tobacco roll and for its relocation in the lobby of the new hotel. Heritage Tile Conservation Ltd have also been brought in to advise on conserving the tiles (see report here with lots of photos). In fact they have even identified that they were probably manufactured by Craven Dunnill & Co, Jackfield, Shropshire, circa 1895 - and that most are still in good condition.

I trust that the Council will be monitoring to ensure that these conservation requirements are followed through on, following the sorry tale of the Crown and Sceptre in Friendly Street where the developer seems to have completely ignored the requirement to retain tiles.

Detail of tiling in the Walpole

New Cross Barclays Bank to Close

The Barclays bank at 197 New Cross Road is due to close on 27 September this year. The building dominates that end of New Cross Gate, where it has stood since around 1910. It was originally built for the London & South Western Bank.

Whatever you think of Barclays, or of banks in general, the fact is that people who rely on having to get to the bank will now have to travel further. This applies particularly to those without internet banking, including many old people, people who need to deposit cash, and those who would actually like to speak to another human face to face rather than negotiating their way through the closed loops of telephone banking.

The biggest impact on most people locally though will be the loss of two cash points. It's true there is another one set back from the road in the post office next door, but if that one's not working the nearest free cash points are at Sainsburys. And frankly when Sainsburys is closed who wants to walk through a big empty car park at night to use them?

I know that some people locally have written letters of complaint to Barclays, not sure it will do much good at this late stage, but if you wish to register your opposition you can write to: to Barclays Bank PLC, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP

No word yet on the future use of the building.

25 Tanners Hill: 18th century building restored

25 Tanners Hill was for many years the base for Witcomb Cycles, which hand built frames in the shop and workshop space behind. It closed in 2009 and has been converted to a private house and the Peter von Kant gallery space.

The conversion/restoration of the building by Dow Jones Architects won a RIBA London Regional Award earlier this year. Like the other buildings in that row, this one dates back to the early 18th century. As described by the architects: 'This grade II listed building, formerly a bicycle repair shop, is a timber-framed building made using timbers from ship construction at the historic Deptford docks. Our restoration exposes the elements of the historic structure that are intact, and uses lime plaster and timber joinery as a neutral background'.

The buidling has been profiled in an article, Down Deep in Deptford, by Jay Merrick in the Architects Journal (15 February 2013). He says: 'The scheme’s exposure of historic fabric is exemplary, the faintly surreal material and spatial qualities of its groundplane an engrossing temporal puzzle. The building is part of a higgledy-piggledy terrace of small two and three-floor houses, most built at the beginning of the 18th century and, in the case of No 25, rebuilt or recast circa 1750. This small fillet of Deptford still radiates a strong sense of that distant past'.

'Most recently, No 25 Tanners Hill had been a bicycle repair shop with a long single-storey asbestos roofed extension at the back. When the architects hacked, investigatively, through the mouldering layers of centuries-old distemper, lime plaster, and detritus on the inside of the western ground floor wall, they were effectively stripping back the final 18th century dividing line between Deptford and the rural wilds of Kent.

The architects Biba Dow and Alun Jones were dealing with a profoundly dilapidated building whose original plan had been derived from an early 18th-century standard London housing design for the ‘lower orders’, taken from Joseph Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises: Or The Doctrine of Handy Works, Applied to the Arts of Smithing, Joinery, Carpentry, Turning [and] Bricklayery'.

Invite 100: Deptford Library/Lewisham Arthouse Building Centenary

The current Lewisham Arthouse building in Lewisham Way was, until 1991, Deptford Central Libary. On April 5th 1913 the foundation stone for the building was laid in a ceremony (pictured).

A hundred years later Townly Cooke and Mary Louise Evans are organising an interesting event to mark this centenary:

'I N V I T E 100 is an Event/Exhibition on Saturday April 6th 2013 that marks the 100th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone for the then Deptford Central Library, now the Lewisham Arthouse Grade II listed building. In 1913 over 70 people sent RSVP letters accepting or declining their invitation to this ceremony that celebrated this new building which honoured the then progressive idea of libraries open to all.

We are inviting today's inhabitants of the same addresses that attended the ceremony on Saturday April 5th 1913. Copies of the letters and archival material will be exhibited alongside new work documenting the process and response to the invitation. Please join us to celebrate this building and be part of this event. All welcome!

For further details contact townlycooke@googlemail.com or evansmarylouise@gmail.com

Thanks to Lewisham Local History and Archive Centre.

Saturday 6 April 2013 at 4.30pm, doors open at 4.15. Free entry. Step-free access'.

More on the history of the building - the architect Alfred Thomas also designed Belfast City Hall and Woolwich Town Hall.

A film on the architecture of the building with Nicholas Taylor

1990s raves in the building

History Corner: Pearce Signs, New Cross

A comment on an ealier post about the history of Laurie Grove Baths set me off looking into another nearby site: 'Loring Hall, one of Goldsmiths Student Residences' (next to the Hobgoblin) 'was built on the site of Pearce Signs offices and factory' with a 'quite elaborate' display of 'a little illuminated man climbing a ladder to a large advert sign' still remembered by many locals.

According to the firm's history, Pearce Signs started out as a small sign-writing business in late 18th century Southwark, expanding to a factory in New Cross Road during the 19th century. In the 20th century it diversified into neon lighting and then, during the Second World War switched to war production: 'Domed headlights were designed and manufactured to reduce the visibility of car lighting from the sky and incoming enemy aircraft'.

Robert Hatton remembers that as a child he was 'blown through the fence of Pearce Signs' by the V2 rocket on 25 November 1944 which destroyed Woolworths opposite, killing 168 people. A temporary mortuary was established at Pearce's.

With peacetime, sign manufacture expanded once again. According to local historian Malcolm Bacchus, who gave a talk earlier this year on the history of New Cross Road at the New Cross Learning Centre, the signage for the first UK McDonalds - in Woolwich - was made there.

The New Cross factory closed in the mid-1990s. Its address in 1995 was still given as Insignia House, 274 New Cross Road, but I believe it closed the following year - though the company is still going with its HQ now in Gosport (Hampshire).

(pictures of factory taken from company website - I am guessing they were taken in the early/mid 1960s. Anybody got any pictures of the outside, including the famous sign)

Millwall Dressing Room

One of the hidden sites of SE London - the Millwall dressing room:

The showers

The baths

The visiting team's dressing room is directly opposite, and both are just by the tunnel. Coming out of their dressing room, visitors have this helpful message to help them find their way to the pitch:

When they come off the pitch the first thing they see is this reminder 'This is the Lions Den':

Swandown

Swandown at Dilston Grove (Cafe Gallery) in Southwark Park is an installation to accompany the film 'Swandown' about Andrew Kötting and Iain Sinclair's journey, in a swan-shaped pedalo, from Hastings to Hackney - a journey described by Sinclair as a kind of mute 'counter grand project' to the Olympics and similar initiatives. It is on until July 29th.

I went along a couple of weeks ago (1st July) to a talk featuring Sinclair and the writer Marina Warner in conversation about the complex mythology of the swan - as both graceful and violent, pure and terrifying, creature of the water and the sky. The many swan names in the river city of London were referred to (and indeed, though not mentioned, there is a Swan Road in SE16 and Swan Street SE1, as well as numerous Swan pubs).

Marina Warner and Iain Sinclair talking in the swan

Dilston Grove - built in 1911 as the Clare College Mission Church, this early concrete building
is now Grade II listed. The church itself closed in 1966. Clare College Mission was a philanthropic
settlement linked to the Cambridge University college.

Among the documents in the exhibition is this 1987 flyer for an appearance by
Sinclair and Brian Catling at Rasp - seemingly a poetry night held at 67 Balfour Street, SE17

Actual swans in Southwark Park

Reflections on the Shard

The laser show to mark the completion of external works at the Shard was a bit of a non-event for South London on 5th July. In New Cross, there were several hundred people gathered in the dusk in Telegraph Hill Park expecting to see lights in the sky, the latest in a long line of spontaneous gatherings there for similar purposes (the solar eclipse 1999, the Millennium, New Year's Eve). But the light show seems to have been more focused on the north side of the building so there was nothing much to see - and maybe we were just too far away. As I said on twitter at the time 'Judging by tonight's Shard show, our rulers are struggling with the 'circuses' bit of the 'bread & circuses' deal as well as the bread bit'. Somebody else joked 'Only just opened & already it’s betrayed its South London roots'.

So to the long list of metaphors attached to the building we migh add another one - that while it is situated South of the river by London Bridge it is oriented more to the City of London on the north bank of the Thames. Or maybe that it represents the spreading of the architecture of wealth and power from the City to an area that for hundreds of years resisted the encroachments of the authorities on the other side of the bridge.

The temple of mammon dwarfing St George's Church in Borough High Street?
(I took this photo last year)

We could also add that it represents a post-colonial shift in the international balance of power, with capital from former British imperial territories (Quatar and China) now shaping the landscape next to the site of the docks where for centuries plunder from across the seas was unloaded.

Having spent much time at ground level by the Shard building site from day one though, it also represents to me the results of a huge effort of collective human labour. The workers in their helmets have come from all over the world to raise this building from the ground. The product of their labour is (among other things) a hotel that most of those who built it will never be able to afford to stay in. The working conditions of those employed by Mace have been the focus of protests at the Shard (including last May Day), as like other construction companies they have used the ruse of employing through agencies to get round national agreements on pay. Nevertheless there has been something awe-inspiring in the sight of the skill and ingenuity of hundreds of people creating a landmark.

Love it or hate it, in a world city this a world building. It doesn't so much symbolise globalisation as embody it - built to an Italian design by workers from Britain, Ireland, Eastern Europe, Africa and elsewhere, funded by wealth created in China and the Middle East. We could follow the chain further - the migrant workers creating the wealth in Quatar (last year 161 construction workers from Nepal alone died in Quatar), the various other parts of the world from where construction materials for the Shard were sourced... It makes the Tower of Babel look like a little local building project.

The Shard among the ruins? Will this be the sight visitors to the city will see in hundreds of years time,
like that bit in Planet of the Apes where they stumble across the Statue of Liberty?
(picture actually taken on Neckinger Street in Bermondsey, where buildings are currently being demolished)

Some have criticised the practice of projecting too many metaphors and symbolic meanings on to the Shard (e.g. see Nick Barron's comments). They have a point, but architects and developers don't build a giant glass pyramid without being very aware of its symbolic dimension, and those who see it every day on the skyline can hardly help reflecting on what meanings it conveys beyond its functional purpose.

Into the blue

A little teaser -where is this mysterious blue labyrinth?

And what lies at the end of it?

Update, Monday 16 April:

As a couple of people identified correctly in the comments thread, this passageway is on Watergate Street, Deptford and leads to Watergate stairs down to the River Thames (or the beach at low tide).

The wooden passageway has been constructed to maintain access during the building works at the adjacent Paynes and Borthwick Wharves site. Work has restarted there after a delay of several years, and the passageway has been repainted blue. It gives the approach to the river a certain majesty, though the previous paint scheme had a certain poetry too - white boards extensively decorated by local youths for whom this is a place to hang out: