Deptford events coming up...

The big event this weekend is the London Marathon on Sunday which Crossfielders can watch from the end of the road – unless they're running of course. Get down to Creek Road at around 9.15am to see the elite runners or catch the charity runners from 11ish. But before that, there's...

New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival 
Friday 24th April – Sunday 3rd May 
37 free films in 17 different venues over 10 days, run by volunteers with more than 40 people curating events. Most of the larger venues or most popular films are already booked up (the first night in particular), but check to see what's left at the website – some events can't be booked so it's first come, first served. One such film we would recommend for loyal Deptfordians is Hide and Seek, a children's film shot in Deptford in 1972, showing on Wednesday 29th at the Big Red Pizzeria (but don't be fooled, it'll be in the container in their back yard, not in the pizzeria itself). Otherwise see you in the queue at the Job Centre on 3rd May...

Deptford Food Festival
Saturday 25th April, 9am–5.30pm, Giffin Square 
The first of what is now to be a weekly street food market. The Deptford Dame points out this is the third time it's been tried and fears there may still be not enough demand to make it worthwhile for the traders themselves. Not being an evening event, it's certainly not as trendy an event as Lewisham Model Market which returned to Lewisham High Street last week, but as a food-orientated attraction it's not as poncey as the Deptford Brunch Club and you can do a bit of shopping as well.

Co-incidentally, The Secret History of Our Streets – featuring Deptford High Street in the first episode – is being repeated on BBC4 (catch it on i-Player). The documentary uses film footage from Hide and Seek (see the Film Festival above), funnily enough. When Secret History was first broadcast in 2012 it caused controversy locally. We had our own critical opinion of the episode's inaccuracies (here, here and here) having originally helped contribute to its making in 2011. Also see Deptford Misc's take on it. But it's worth watching to hear how Deptford High Street was once the "Oxford Street of south London".

That reminds us of the meeting held back in early February at The Albany for shopkeepers and market traders, convened by local councillors (who all happen to be Lewisham Labour) to discuss how to increase trade in the high street (or rather, combat the decrease). Traders think business is lost because of parking charges – it's free to park on a Saturday after 1pm but they'd like free all day parking ("like what you get at supermarkets"). Maybe the new Asda can pay for the free parking...

Another demand was for public toilets–  the Lounge was built on the site of the previous public loos and doesn't open until 10am. Most demands were led by People Before Profit (in an open attack on the Labour councillors); PB4P touched on a subject that was of no interest to legitimate businesses when they called for an end to frequent harassment from the UK Border Police.

Everyone present thought better signage was needed and one lady shopkeeper bravely suggested that the 47 bus takes a detour (presumably up Frankham Street and down Giffin Street) which is a brilliant but probably impractical idea. The Chair of the High Street Traders Association – who got the anchor removed and to which most traders do not belong – suggested French foods or farmer's markets in Giffin Square. So here you are! Not French cheeses, but lovely street food! Make the most of it! Naturally, you'll be walking or catching the bus to our famous high street, since there's still no all-day free parking. That's probably just as well since Deptford Church Street is usually gridlocked on Saturdays with people trying to get to Surrey Quays and Lewisham shopping centres – or Millwall FC at home...

Secret History of Our Streets and Nicholas Taylor

Martin Taylor wrote to local bloggers today to ask them to publicise the website he has set up to redress the misleading impression given of his father, Nick Taylor – and Deptford itself – in the documentary Secret History of Our Streets, broadcast on June 6th – or, how, as Martin puts it, "my dad was unfairly stitched up like a kipper by the Beeb".

With the help of his friends, he has also published a booklet and intends to deliver it around Deptford, door to door, in a concerted effort to clear his father's name. Martin says they have tried to get an apology out of the BBC, but "have given up as we were advised it would take a minimum of 12 months and we can't wait that long".

Both the website and leaflet aim to correct the false impressions the programme gave about Deptford's history – and how it is today – as well as set the record straight regarding Nick Taylor's 'involvement' in the demolition of much of Deptford's housing. Backed up with facts and figures about Deptford then and now, it makes for fascinating reading.

Regarding his father, Martin says, "Via the selective use of out-of-context quotes taken from several long conversations, the programme appears to have succeeded in given viewers a completely false impression...He stopped the bulldozers rather than starting them up...

"The programme showed a sequence of film shot in Deptford High Street when Mr Taylor, who had just come out of hospital having had a stroke and a triple heart bypass, was being questioned very aggressively about the demolitions in Reginald Road, even though the programme makers knew full well that what had happened to Reginald Road had nothing to do with him."

Martin concludes, "Nicholas Taylor's career as a councillor was dedicated to trying to preserve terraced houses and prevent the building of high rise estates...We think he deserves to receive an apology."

Go to deptfordptrs.com to read the real story – and, if you were as disappointed by the programme as we were, you can help to "restore the good name of Deptford and its community" by leaving your comments.

RIP Brian Hibbard

Whilst the Welsh mourn for one of their own, Brian Hibbard (who was born in Ebbw Vale and died in University Hospital Cardiff yesterday of prostate cancer), there are quite a few in Deptford who will be shedding a tear at the news of his passing – since Brian's earlier career with The Flying Pickets is a part of Deptford's history.

Brian used to live in Evelyn Street in a house known to friends as The Yellow Duck, which he shared with other actors and performers who were involved with The Albany, as it made its transition from its old building on Creek Road to where it is now on Douglas Way. Quite how Brian made his way to Deptford is a story probably best told by those who knew him better – that includes some ladies of a certain age still living in Crossfields, and the bloke who designed the poster above and below, plus all the original members of The Combination Theatre group who founded the new Albany, some of whom still live in Deptford, plus students of Rose Bruford College which was based in the now demolished old school on Creek Road, betwixt Creekside and Church Street.

Connections were formed through Liverpool playwright John McGrath's legendary 7:84 Theatre company, a Scottish left-wing agitprop theatre group (don't hear that phrase agitprop these days) – whose title displayed the ratio of wealth in the UK in the 70s. It may well be less than 7% of the population who now own more than 84% of the nation's wealth in 2012. David Tennant, Douglas Henshall and Bill Patterson are among 7:84's alumni...

Brian is credited with forming the Flying Pickets in 1982 when working with 7:84 on John Burrow's One Big Blow – a musical play about coal miners, brass bands and the tough conditions they worked under – in which the players sing the brass parts acapella – and which was written 15 years before "Brassed Off". Rick Lloyd, who wrote the music for One Big Blow (1982), was among those who joined Hibbard. They took their name from the miners' strikes of '72 and '74, when the phrase 'flying pickets' may have been first coined – flying pickets would travel to join a picket wherever a strike had been called, to support and swell the numbers.

Any younger readers who visited the recent Jeremy Deller show Joy In People at the Hayward Gallery may have found themselves moved by Deller's recreation of the Battle of Orgreave, a filmed re-enactment of the conflict between police and striking miners in 1984, when there was mass picketing. The Flying Pickets had by then topped the charts for five weeks with a UK Christmas number one (1983) with their debut single Only You. With Thatcher's decision to close 20 pits and a loss of 20,000 jobs, record company Virgin was reported as extremely unhappy that the group were making the most of their fame by picketing in Yorkshire and performing benefit gigs for the miners. The Albany itself had a benefit or two, notably with Test Department, as well as The Flying Pickets.

Brian and fellow band member Stripe (also a familiar Deptford face in the early 80s) left The Pickets in 1986 and both moved away from Deptford. Hibbard pursued an acting career that eventually saw him in Doctor Who, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and East Enders, with regular appearances on BBC Wales, notably in Welsh language soap Pobol y Cwm. 

Deptford remembers Brian and his contribution to our place and memories, and our sympathies go to his wife and children.

If anyone has some memories to share or better photos than the ones we've nabbed off the usual media, please get in touch.

UPDATE: Transpontine has transcribed a piece from Wales Online which tells the Picket's story in more depth.

More acapella and acting up at You Tube.
The Flying Pickets were actually at their best in their ironic interpretations of modern songs of the day. If they could've danced as well, who knows what they could've started....

Thanks to jennyharris.org for poster images.

Pete Pope's Funeral

Pete Pope (John Peter Pope) 1949 - 2012

Pete Pope died on 11th May 2012. Since then his friends have rallied round to organise an appropriate send-off. The funeral will be conducted by humanist officiant Billy Jenkins, and the service will consist of well-chosen music and tributes. Further celebration of Pete's life will continue at The Dog and Bell. Rather than sending flowers, donations can be made to Bench Outreach (020 8692 2810), who supported Pete when he was ill.

The following Sunday there will be a second ceremony to scatter Pete's ashes from the Ha'Penny Hatch into the outgoing tide, starting with a procession from The Bird's Nest pub (participants are requested to bring percussion instruments), followed by more celebration back at the pub.

Funeral : Friday 15th June 2012, 10.45am
Please arrive by 10.30am
Hither Green Crematorium, Verdant Lane, London, SE6 1TP

There will also be a group cycle ride to the crematorium leaving Deptford Bridge DLR at 10am. (Cycling not compulsory).

From noon all are invited for food and refreshments
The Dog and Bell, 116 Prince Street, Deptford, SE8 3JD

Scattering of Pete’s ashes : Sunday 24th June, 4.30pm
Ha’penny Hatch, Creekside, Deptford, London SE8
Meet at 2.30pm at The Bird's Nest, moving on to Ha'Penny Hatch – bring percussion
Followed by music and refreshments
The Bird’s Nest, 32 Deptford Church Street, Deptford, London SE8 4RZ

An obituary is being compiled, but in the meantime, for those who want to know why Pete was important to so many local people, Transpontine has posted here. Pete was part of the campaign to stop Lewisham council selling off Aragon Tower on Pepys Estate (later featured in the BBC doc The Tower, see the video below). Later he was commemorated in the 'Wall of Ancestors' installed at the base of the 'Z' building (aka Aragon Tower, see pic below).

As part of Deptford Community Forum and Convoys Opportunity, he protested against the plans for Convoys Wharf – a campaign which has now entered a new phase with the work of Deptford Is and others. Convoys Opportunity proposed a cruise liner terminal and drew attention to Deptford's maritime history with a press stunt in a Thames barge in 2005 (Pete is dressed as Lord Nelson).

Thanks to Transpontine for links, and Jeannie for river pic. Part One of The Tower below.

Watch The Tower [Part 1] in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Not so secret history: Turning The Tide

It seems as though there was no one in Deptford who didn't watch The Secret History of Our Streets last night and wasn't moved by its content in one way or another.

Some were moved to tears, others were furious at the council and some were angry with the programme makers. A great many people who had been interviewed, even handed over family photos and talked at length about their love of the place, were naturally disappointed to have ended up on the cutting room floor. The rector of St Paul's was one such – there wasn't even a shot of his beautiful church. Old Archie – who obviously had a great life story to tell – stayed in the cut but Harry Hayward of DAGE got dropped, and where was Johnny's Hardware store and Fred's auntie and (fill in your own missing people)?

Others wondered why there was no mention of the positive things that are happening right now – why paint such a negative picture? (Answer: The clue is in the word "history"). Anyway, we hear John Price didn't really want to take part but was pleaded with when the programme makers 'uncovered' the evidence of the unneccessary 'slum clearance' which provided the hitherto missing glue for their narrative. Of course, a fairly prosperous family background of market trading promised useful cine footage as well (you had to be moderately well off to have a cine camera in those days).

By missing a lot out or skimming over broader issues (pre-war poverty, war damage, industrial decline, immigration etc), the programme delivered a powerful message about a singularly devasting episode in Deptford's history.

But much of the story which unfolded can already be found towards the end of Jess Steele's excellent book on Deptford, "Turning The Tide, The History of Everyday Deptford", first published in 1993 and essential reading for any Deptfordian. (ISBN 1-898536-00-7)

On page 195, Steele says "Perhaps most upsetting is the admission that by no means all of the streets cleared for the estates were slums...". Steele did not print a picture of the same report that was shown in the film nor lend it the same weight, but it was obviously not a secret in 1993, so could not have been that difficult to track down in 2012.

Of course the vintage and home cine film footage included in the Secret History film engaged our senses in a way a history book cannot. But going back to the book reveals a different picture and most strikingly shows how film can manipulate your senses beyond your reason. A particular casualty of truth in the film would appear to be Nicholas Taylor, the architect and councillor involved in the demolition of so many of Deptford's homes. Taylor is portrayed, through some clever editing, as a man with no heart, in league with the dystopian London planners, made to hang (as a commenter on the BBC's blog suggested) for the crimes of the past. Turning The Tide, on the other hand, reports a man who was extremely unhappy with the process. (See below).

The film also gives the impression Deptford was prosperous from Booth's day all the way to the full employment of the 50s then suddenly took a turn for the worse when idealistic planners wrecked the place. In truth, Deptford's fortunes have ebbed and flowed. Somewhere along the way in this tale-telling, the truth was lost.

People debated on the BBC blog, and on local blog Brockley Central, Shipwright's Palace pointed out further inaccuracies:  

"Wholesale clearance of individual dwellings for London County Council blocks began in Deptford as early as the 1890s around Watergate Street, Hughes Field, Deptford Green "For the Erection of Dwellings for the Working Classes". A second wave occurred in the 1930s such as Crossfields Estate and again immediately post-war in Tanner's Hill. The 1950's-70's clearance was a third wave.
The High Street (Butt Lane) was originally a residential street, largely developed during the eighteenth century, not Victorian as described."

However, the main point to be made here is that the programme makers presented us with "a secret" that came across to many viewers as a shocking 'big scoop'. But if we'd only read our history books, we'd know this stuff already. In the process, they have also tarnished the reputation of a man still living, Nicholas Taylor, whose heart may have been truer than the filmmakers'.

Nevertheless, if anyone has been woken up into realising how plans are made for us whilst we're asleep, then the film team must be congratulated for raising the profile of an issue that is central to Deptford at this time.

As Jess Steele points out "Lewisham does not even have a museum...If our history had not been treated with such indifference and ignorance we would have less need of full-scale regeneration...We have to turn this tide of neglect." p222

Turning The Tide
 
Steele admits at the beginning of her penultimate chapter that in trying to cover the history of Deptford from Roman times onwards, a topic as huge as the slum clearances and the building of council estates could only be roughly sketched and really demanded another book.

An historian born and bred locally, she was also an activist involved in ensuring the regeneration funds pouring into the area in the 90s went in the right direction. She found Nick Taylor to be a useful guide.

Nicholas Taylor, a young architectural journalist and Lewisham councillor in the early 1970s, had been writing polemical articles against tower blocks for a decade. Now he looks back at his fellow-councillors and remembers a kind of old Labour machismo which was excited by the scale of the buildings, by their 'phallic penetration of the skyline'....Taylor points out that "these little gardens and yards, full of washing and children and animals and all the stuff of daily life, were ruthlessly eliminated".  (p.193)

Taylor also defended the residents who had moved into Milton Court in 1971: "this estate is horrendous; there is a madness in the design". Old Deptford councillors "never understood why people weren't grateful for these estates. How dare they form a TA and start attacking the council when they'd hardly moved in?". (p.194)

Taylor had, however, been in favour of demolishing some of the old houses in the area Milton Court was built on, since they were so badly built – cracking apart and subsiding on poor foundations – and were in danger of falling down anyway. Not because they were 'slums'. Steele goes on:

Nevertheless "the replacement of companionably unhygienic slums by soulless tower blocks with broken lifts" (Macgregor 1987) has haunted the memories of Deptford people and planners. Perhaps most upsetting is the admission that by no means all of the streets cleared for the estates were slums...How many other houses were lost in Deptford through the ignorance and indifference of Lewisham planners? Cllr Taylor tells of taking other Lewisham councillors on a Saturday morning coach tour round Deptford, a part of their borough some of them had never ventured into...(p195)

Steele quotes a piece in the The Sunday Times (Peter Way): "Having destroyed a community, devastated trade, and broken up a good deal of workable low level housing the planners have just completed one of the alternatives: an awesome complex in which people are refusing to live..."

Steele also goes into the politics of how Deptford became part of Lewisham (rather than Greenwich), quoting the Deptford MP Sir Leslie Plummer, who said, "When Deptford was a civilised borough and community, the people of Lewisham were practically running around in woad...(whereas) we launched ships, and brought an empire to Elizabeth 1. We were not common scullions and cooks (like those in Lewisham who claimed King Alfred had burnt his cakes there); we were navigators who girdled the globe and brought riches and treasure to this country." p.197

Another chapter is devoted to the two World Wars where she describes how the area was affected through its proximity to the docks – from which one can gather that a process of rebuilding and rehousing had been going on for some time. She also details the economic ups and downs that occurred between Booth's time and the late 20th century which caused Deptford's fortunes to rise and fall accordingly – with focus on the charitable work and voluntary efforts that helped to shape the positive places and things we see today (The Albany for instance).

In her final chapter Steele tackles the subject of racism which also has a resonance that this film could not tackle, and which she describes as "an elastic and manipulable ideology, surviving by adaptation to specific circumstances. Its logic is filled with useful blindnesses and justifying amnesia". (p211)

Epilogue ('History dying and demolished all the time')

In her epilogue (written in 1993), Steele quotes another local activist of that time, Richard Walker:

The main question...is "whether inherent design faults and the continuing ghettoisation of the inner city underclass can be addressed by capital investment, administered through Lewisham Housing Department, major architectural consultants and big construction firms. Are these not merely the 1990s version of the agents who built these estates in the first place?" (p228)

The problem of housing the underclass was handed over a few years later to Lewisham Homes aka Lewisham Council (Crossfields chose this option in consultation) and to various Housing Associations, but the present call to 'build new housing' has the same ring of the old triumvirate: a local authority (whose planning committee has no training in planning), and architects working with giant construction firms.

Clearly an update from Jess Steele, or her equivalent, would be welcome.

In some ways the neglect of Deptford has been a blessing. We have many beautiful buildings in the High St...Other buildings all over the borough have scraped past the redevelopers precisely because the area was deemed so worthless...(p225)

If anyone has other books or useful resources on this topic they can recommend please leave a comment.

UPDATE 12-06-2012
See Deptford Misc 

UPDATE 14-06-2012
Thanks to Deprford Misc for link to Martin Taylor speaking about his father in Guardian letters. 
Also, copies of Turning The Tide are available at Creekside Centre at normal retail price.

UPDATE 19-06-2012
Thanks to Deptford Misc for this link: www.dfpbooks.co.uk/index.html

UPDATE 19-06-2012
South London Press carries a story from Nick Taylor himself in their Tuesday paper. Unfortunately it's not available to view online without subscription. Taylor says:

"I had nothing to do with these decisions. I was one of the first campaigners in England against the 1960s policy of bulldozing houses and replacing them with tower blocks....the first thing I did when I was elected to the council in May 1971 was to stop the demolition of the houses in Gosterwood Street, Etta Street, and the remaining half of Rolf Street. When I was elected in 1971, the High Street was in a terrible state and I played a major part in saving the street, bringing it back to a flourishing life, bring the market back into it in 1975, so that it is now renowned as one of the best places in London for its vibrant and varied shops and stalls." (Er, steady on, Nick).

Nick's son, Martin, is quoted as saying, "My father and I are furious and extremely upset. He has spent his life working for the good of Deptford and is devastated at the way in which the film makers have portrayed him."

A BBC spokesman says: "The film includes a line which clearly stated the contributor in question wasn't on the council when the decision to demolish Reginald Road was taken."

Secret History of Our Streets airs tonight on BBC2

'Creek Street' residents were labourers, poorer artisans and street sellers. What has changed since 1889?

Back in January 2011, Crosswhatfields posted that it had been contacted by Century/Halcyon Heart Films, with a request for us to help them find people they could interview for their documentary series on six London streets – one of which was Deptford High Street.

We had already posted quite a bit about Charles Booth's 1889 Poverty Maps of London (see links below), which the producers were using as a starting point to base their enquiry on. They wanted to know: how have these streets changed in the past 120 years?

Whether we were any help or not (we were slightly concerned that people's stories might end up on the cutting room floor), they have now finished making their series, and the first episode of The Secret History of our Streets airs tonight on BBC2 at 9pm – and it's all about Deptford High Street.

To give you a flavour, Time Out previewed the Deptford episode last week – the programme looks set to reveal an interesting story about slum clearance and social engineering. Also see the short clip on the BBC 2 website.

Meanwhile, here's what Marmoset wrote on Crosswhatfields about Booth's Poverty Map of Deptford:

A brief history of Deptford-Greenwich borders October 2010
Putting the clock back in Deptford (1) October 2010
Putting the clock back in Deptford (2) November 2010
Putting the clock back in Deptford (3) November 2010

You can view Booth's Poverty Map at the Charles Booth Online Archive, courtesy of the London School of Economics.

Putting the clock back in Deptford.(3)

To avoid a bit of disorientation, it might be useful to note that where we now have, working south, 3 parallel roads - Giffin Street, Frankham Street and Reginald Road - in Booth's day there were 5 parallel roads - Giffin Street, Regent Street, Stanhope Street, Hale Street and Reginald Road.  Looking at this map:

it appears that Regent Street - or Stanhope Street -  has been re-named  Frankham Street, and Hale Street has disappeared apart from the High Street end where there's the remains of a narrow road behind the Shaftesbury Centre (or whatever that churchy-chapelly thing is called).

The next part of Booth's walk takes him from  Mechanics Path/Resolution Way.

 On the west side by the railway is a passage leading to High Street. Ground on south side is taken for Builder's Yard. (Holloway's), one house occupied by foreman. Two and three storied houses; a few shops,

On the site from Browne House and further south, he notes:

opposite Giffen Street and south of that point, people are poor. Barefoot girl came out of one house. Group of women talking in doorway near Hale Street.

For Booth, the sight of a ''Barefoot girl'' is a clear indication of poverty. Women standing in doorways are another.  And

Men sitting on pavement outside publichouse with feet stretched across footway. Pony cart standing on road – chalked for sale. Few shops are comfortable. German baker etc.

hardly makes the area seem more prosperous.  

W along Giffen Street. 3 storied, about 6 rooms. Many of the houses at the east end are dilapidated and boarded up. Slatternly women standing about; some shoeless children. Low class, some prostitutes, hawkers, etc. Some houses let in furnished rooms. Street Roadway has been made up – covered with tar paving and shingle.

All this sounds very attractive.  Low classes, poverty, prostitutes and hawkers. And again, women standing around talking, though this time they're ''slatternly.''  Though there were fewer ''charges'' therefore the area had improved.

Linking Giffin Street and Regent Street there appears to have been a connecting street, Bevill Street.  

S along Bevill Street. Deptford Ragged school – a large square at W. corner of Giffen Street. Three 3 St houses on east side – like Giffen St. Dark blue. E along Regent Street. Two storied houses – broken windows. Some street sellers. Two women talking in roadway as we entered. ''Well known prostitutes'' said the Inspector. The women moved off quickly, evidently recognising him. Board School extended to W. Dark Blue as map. S and W along Hale Street. Narrow crowded street. 2 st houses. Broken windows, sills broken away. Street doors open into room. Beds seen through ground floor windows. When visiting with Inspector in the morning the women were standing about the doors, criticising their visitors. At an afternoon visit I found them sitting on groups on the foot path, one on a chair, more on the edge of the curbstone whilst one woman completed a small circle by sitting in the road with her feet toward the kerb. Costers driving home on their pony carts. Candle factory at west end of street, emitting very evil smells. Not much crime. Dark Blue rather than Dk B lined as map. N into Stanhope Street. 2 st houses, flush with pavement. Broken windows, cemented roadway blocked with barrows. Two men breaking up some gas fitting and putting the metal in a sack. A few Italians; some costers and prostitutes; shoeless children running about and frowsy women gaping at the doors. Board School takes greater part of north side. The west end of the north side is more open and the people a little cleaner, approximating to LB. Dark blue lined black as map.

It seems odd that the only reference I can find to him returning somewhere for an ''afternoon visit'' happens to be to where there are well-known prostitutes.  I wonder why he returned.

(I've placed a transcription of Booth's walk onto the Backtalk page - if you are interested in his observations for the rest of his journey followed by his conclusions, please visit it.)

Putting the clock back in Deptford.(2)

That was a bit naughty of me yesterday - though I put in a link to the map, I didn't put in a link to the notebook from which I had transcribed a couple of extracts.  So let's put that right.

The next stage in Charles Booth's journey brings him closer to Crossfields Estate but might be a little confusing because he goes walking up streets that no longer exist.  Here's a map to give you some bearings - the online quality is not great but you can make out Addey Street (which Booth occasionally calls Addis Street) running parallel to Church Street with a further unnamed street running to the east.  Much of Addey Street appears to have been retained as the estate road running from behind Wilshaw House north to the railway.  The unnamed street was Hosier Street and where the entrance to the north side of Holden house now stands, there was Leonidas Street. 

Booth walks from the Broadway towards Creekside and Reginald Road noting:

N up Church Street (to Reginald Rd). Poor class of shops near the Broadway, 3 storied and old fashioned private houses, a few let in tenements but most look comfortable. Poorer as you go north. Pink as map. Portion of colour on east side gone – houses taken for mineral water factory. Lease for sale.

Though the south end of the Broadway has been rebuilt, there are once again a handful of very small shops at the Broadway end, and the mineral water factory must have been situated more or less where the car parking area behind Lewisham College now lies.  I do hope that they didn't get their water from the nearby Creek.

On into Creek Street (now Creekside)

East along Creek Street. With exception of two, the houses on south side are gone. Taken for business premises. On north side 2 st. houses. People look comfortable, work on the creek. Pink rather than purple of maps. Portion of street going north is poorer. East side nearly all gone. West side 2 storied houses. Purple (as map) to LB. Prefer latter.

Now the south side of Creekside only has one house left but the houses-into-businesses progression seems familiar as industrial use replaced housing. This continues north along Creekside/Creek St where there is housing on the west side (now Wilshaw and Holden Houses) but no housing on the east (Faircharm)

By the S side of railway is a passage eastward leading to the railway bridge across the Creek. Known as the ''Halfpenny Hatch.'' Toll of 1d charged for crossing.

Inflation clearly is not a recent phenomenon - already it costs twice as much as its name suggests.

W into Leonidas Street. 2 st. 4 rooms, flush with pavement. Paint good, clean and well kept. Decent people mostly one family in a house. Purple rather than LB of map. Colour omitted on south side, Light Blue. S down Hosier Street. 3 rm'd cottages, poor labouring class. Some broken windows. Part of SE end of street taken for factory. LB as map. Colour to come off west side south of entry into Addis Street. Ground plan of street wrong at south end. Street runs into Creek Street near Addis Street. Several houses between Hosier Street and turn in Creek Street.
 The recurrent references to colour reflect the colour coding Booth used to show levels of affluence.  Leonidas Street is roughly where the estate entrance opposite the Creekside Centre is.  Hosier Street has left no trace of itself though.  Its old route would take you through Holden and Wilshaw and and back out onto Creekside.

N along Addey Street. Small 2 St houses like Hosier St. south of the passage into Hosier Street. LB in character. Between the entry into Hosier Street and Leonidas Street is a row of old houses on E. side. 4 rooms and attic in roof. Footway leading to houses is about 2 ft below level of roadway and is protected by iron railing. Some prostitutes and criminals. Low rough class: reckons this the worst part of Deptford. Went into a house here to arrest a man at 5am. Found father, mother and 5 children in one room. All rooms are small. This piece should be D.Blue lined. Houses opposite are 2 st. D.Blue in character. Northern part is 2st and Light Blue except 3 shops and publichouse north of Leonidas Street. 





His route so far would seem to be along the lines of this:

As they walk back north up Addey Street the inspector remarks that he ''reckons this the worst part of Deptford.'' which Booth marks out here.

Addey Street, the buried heart of Crossfields is not a place of luxury.  ''Some prostitutes and criminals. Low rough class: reckons this the worst part of Deptford. Went into a house here to arrest a man at 5am. Found father, mother and 5 children in one room. All rooms are small''

So, prostitutes, 7-to-a-room overcrowding and criminals - the low rough class.  I think we may have become slightly more gentrified since Booth's day.

(Next section to include the hawkers and slatternly women standing about on the ''Poor Patch east of High Street/Giffen Street)

Putting the clock back in Deptford.(1)

Why put the clocks back just one hour when we can go back over a century?  On 18 July 1899, Charles Booth was out and about in the local streets revisiting the area to evaluate the changes since his Poverty Map of London had been created 10 years earlier.  This is the area he walked, accompanied by police officers from the local Nick - which at the time was at the junction of Blackheath Road and Greenwich High Road:

So, Crossfields estate is splat bang in the middle of the area he surveyed.  The Broadway in the south, the Thames in the north, Deptford High Street in the west and the Creek in the east.

First, a note on who accompanied him.   Booth's accounts of his survey companions are not always as neutral as you might expect for a sociological survey.  He has been known write such sentences as ''Sergeant Vann is a solid, stolid character...'' and though they're not too objective they do provide little caricatured impressions of what he means.  His return to our neck of the woods was done with Inspector Gummer at his side.

Inspector Gummer is a small well dressed portly man. Jacket suit and straw hat. Has over 10 years service at Blackheath Road and knows the district well. We started about 10am, Sergeant Goddard having instructions to relieve the Inspector at noon as he was due at Woolwich Police Court.

Sergeant Goddard, who relieved the inspector at noon didn't come in for such a flattering portait.

At this point Sergeant Goddard relieved the Inspector. He is a thin man of about 40. Face mottled, the result of bad digestion or too close application to the worship of Bacchus. Walks slightly lame, owing to rheumatism. Has been over 10 years in the sub division but for last 18 months at Blackheath Road.

At the beginning of the walk, starting at Deptford Bridge he notes Gardiners, the ''large establishment'' which still stood in the 60s, with its imposing, ornate but predominantly soot-stained brickwork, before it was replaced by the imposing, plain and predominantly bland characterlessness of Lewisham College.  And thence to Deptford Broadway, a...

Triangular open space, paved with cobble stones. Stand for barrows and the meeting place of the neighbourhood. Political and other meetings held here. Men standing about. Good three storied shops to High Street, slightly poorer near Church Street. 


The cobblestones have long since gone, but it's interesting to note that the Broadway was once a place for political and other meetings.  Any gathering there now would be the 999 club, where the unemployed can get themselves a free cup of tea and maybe even a bit of company.  And the police would soon be along with insistent ''move along, please!'' commands if more people than the fingers on your hand gathered together there now.

(Next instalment - Booth follows Church Street past Deptford's answer to Evian water along  to Creek Street, which of course is now known as Creekside.  ''Poorer as you go north....'' and we may meet prostitutes on the way.)