Memory Lane

Today I decided to visit Deptford, the area where I lived till I was nearly 12. It's just a mile or two away from where I live now, but thanks to urban decay on the one hand, and developer's blight on the other, much of it bears very little resemblance to the place where I was born.

I couldn't take a picture of my old secondary school (11-18), Addey and Stanhope, because it's behind a wall with huge trees masking it. The oldest part of the building dates to just over a hundred years ago, but the school was founded in 1715.

This was my primary school (5-11), Tidemill. Say hello and goodbye - they are going to build a new one. Other old school buildings in neighbouring areas have been turned into apartments, but as Lewisham Council has demolished almost everything else in the last 45 years, I don't rate its chances very highly.



These are some of the oldest houses in the area, just yards from the semi-derelict High Street. Over 300 years ago, they were built for the leading admirals of the fleet. Deptford was an important naval port, and nearby were the docks and wharves where overseas goods were unloaded. Containers made the docks redundant.

The lucky inhabitants of these houses get to look out on an ugly new estate. The inhabitants of the new estate look out on these lovely old houses!






These shops are some of the oldest buildings of any kind in Deptford, some as much as 400 years old, maybe more. The cycle shop has just had to move to bigger premises after 40 years in the building. I used to go to school a matter of yards from here, but I never noticed the little white building with the black hatch in the wall. I bet it wasn't neat and clean in those days - there's just been a huge clean-up of this little bit of street, which now has a yuppy cafe with tables and chairs on the pavement.







There are some attractive buildings from more recent ages, too, including this former department store build in the Art Deco period.


St Paul's Church (poet John Betjeman's "pearl in the heart of Deptford") was built in 1715 when Deptford was at its height. I usually love early Gothic churches and cathedrals, but this jewel is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen.







As I walked round the churchyard today, I noticed this stone set in the grass.

I had never noticed it before. I'm wondering if Captain Bligh was on the Providence before or after he captained the Bounty.

I could have photographed the hand carwash where the New Cross Empire music hall and theatre used to stand. It was really worthwhile pulling that one down, then doing nothing with the site for 50 years.

I could have photographed the new shops with flats above on the opposite corner, which stand on the site of the fish and chip shop where we used to go after our rehearsals for the school play. It just blew up one day some years ago. A few years later the shop next door, presumably weakened by the explosion (why didn't anyone check it out), fell down. They wouldn't have been very interesting though, would they? I hope these are.