Derelict London updates for Spring/Summer 2017
Lambeth Workhouse
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Isle of Dogs
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Pimlico
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Elephant and Castle
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'Paul Talling is a connoisseur of these lost waterways' - Arthur Smith on BBC The One Show
Firstly, we start off with some pictures taken recently on day trips to Gravesend to Rochester:
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Acorn Shipyard - Rochester
After decades of trading the Acorn Shipyard at Rochester ceased trading after entering administration in September 2016 and closed in early 2017. The last vessel to be repaired was the James Prior which had a new prop shaft fitted.The site has suffered a spate of 4 mysterious fires - in September 2016, November 2016 and May 2017. The buildings contained materials such as oil waste and paint thinner which accelerated the blaze and caused an explosion which was felt for miles. Now the whole site remains in a sorry state with the unsturdy frames of two large fire damaged buildings creaking away in the wind and other buildings abandoned with all the machinery and cranes including a 10 ton Scotch Derrick looking forlorn. The site lies to the north of Rochester town centre and is located on the northern tip of the riverside peninsula, fronting the River Medway.The surrounding site is land that has been cleared and levelled in preparation for Rochester Riverside, a major residential led regeneration project for a development of up to 1,400 homes, commercial and community uses. Although Acorn Shipyard lies outside of the Development Brief area, the Masterplan proposes a ‘mixed employment’ approach for Acorn Shipyard. The brief states that the site could accommodate a range of uses including residential, office space, workshops, studios and ancillary space for retail and cafes.Some locals have been cynical about the mystery fires..... The site is now sealed off and there is alot of damaged asbestos from the roofing on this site and entrance is not recommended. |
Gravesend West Railway Station Pier
Gravesend West railway station opened in 1886 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) and was a regular destination for boat trains from London which connected with steamers on the station's pier.
By 1899 the "Belle Steamers" service was operating a sailing from the West Street Pier to Southend, Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze. Another steamer service operated to Harwich, Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth. In 1916, at the height of the First World War, the Dutch Batavia Line introduced a steamer service from the West Street Pier to Rotterdam. A "Continental Express" boat train service from Victoria was laid on to connect with the steamers, and signs in Dutch began to appear at some intermediate stations; in Dutch, Gravesend West Street was "Heeren". The Prince Consort of Holland was said to have occasionally used the service. The Second World War saw the end of the Batavia Line service.
The station closed in 1953 to passengers and later to freight in 1968. Much of the station was demolished in 1991, with the remaining section of viaduct and bridge over West Street demolished in 2006, This leaves the Pier as the only remaining structure.
Gravesend West railway station opened in 1886 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) and was a regular destination for boat trains from London which connected with steamers on the station's pier.
By 1899 the "Belle Steamers" service was operating a sailing from the West Street Pier to Southend, Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze. Another steamer service operated to Harwich, Felixstowe and Great Yarmouth. In 1916, at the height of the First World War, the Dutch Batavia Line introduced a steamer service from the West Street Pier to Rotterdam. A "Continental Express" boat train service from Victoria was laid on to connect with the steamers, and signs in Dutch began to appear at some intermediate stations; in Dutch, Gravesend West Street was "Heeren". The Prince Consort of Holland was said to have occasionally used the service. The Second World War saw the end of the Batavia Line service.
The station closed in 1953 to passengers and later to freight in 1968. Much of the station was demolished in 1991, with the remaining section of viaduct and bridge over West Street demolished in 2006, This leaves the Pier as the only remaining structure.
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W T Henleys / AEI Cable Works NorthfleetWT Henleys set up cable works at North Woolwich in 1859. Henley was an early pioneer of submarine cable manufacture and was involved in many prestigious projects including the first cable across the North Atlantic. The company operated their own cable laying ships. In 1906 a bigger site was needed and these cable works next to the Thames in Northfleet was established. In 1959, W T Henley & Co was taken over by AEI who in in turn were taken over by GEC in 1967. Cable making on ths site stopped in 2008. Some of the last submarine cables manufactured at the plant were used on the Kentish Flats wind farm project in the Thames Estuary off the North Kent Coast. W T Henley's disused office building on Crete Hall Road is all that remains of the vast site. |
A gallery of dereliction in and around Gravesend:
And now back to London:
The old Alexandra Hotel in South Norwood SE25
275 Wood Street, Walthamstow E17
This old residential building built in 1868 consisting of council flats was reported as being structurally unsound in 2011 with major works required to roofing as well as windows, chimney stacks, heating, stairs, plasterwork, kitchens and bathrooms. According to the council remedial works cost estimates made work unfeasible and a full decant was recommended. Leaks from the roof caused the top floor ceiling to collapse shortly after the decant completed. Plans are demolish the building and to build 19 flats that will be managed by Waltham Forest Housing.
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Barbed Wire Love at the empty Holloway Prison
HM Prison Holloway
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Holloway Prison - Parkhurst Rd, N7 0NUHM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders. Holloway prison was opened in 1852 as a mixed-sex prison, but due to growing demand for space for female prisoners it became female-only in 1903.It was completely rebuilt between 1971 and 1985 on the same site. It was the largest women's prison in Europe but closed in July 2016 because according to the authorities it was unsuited to the needs of a modern prison. Prisoners were moved to HMP Downview and HMP Bronzefield. The vacant site, which incidentally, is difficult to break into, has been earmarked for a potential £2 billion housing development according to the Evening Standard 2017. |
Grace Community Church - Wood Street, Walthamstow
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Grace Community Church - Wood Street, Walthamstow E17This former scout hall and later church was also a factory many years ago. Proposals are for demolition of the existing building and for a residential development (6 to 14 flats, 3 or 4 storeys high) with social/community use on the ground floor. |
Newington
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Silvertown
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Bermondsey
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Selhurst
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Samaritan Hospital for Women - Marylebone Road, NW1
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Samaritan Hospital for Women - Marylebone Road, NW1This red brick and terracotta hospital was opened in 1889. In 1904 the Hospital became a dedicated gynaecological hospital. On 17th June 1905 a new building for the Out-Patients Department, with a Nurses' Home above, was opened immediately behind the Hospital In November 1934 a new extension was opened. In 1987 the Hospital building was listed by English Heritage as Grade II. The Hospital closed in 1997 and has remained empty ever since. Politician Murad Qureshi recently asked NHS England what is happening with the building. It is owned along with the adjacent Western Eye Hospital by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and earmarked for off-setting redevelopment costs on other major sites. Murad writes on his blog: "But does it really take 20 years to sort it out with these buildings which could have been put to good alternative use in the meantime rather than lying empty for so long... This potential makes available the resources released for this site on the running costs of NHS locally in City of Westminster and West Central during the present winter crisis. During all those 20 years as well, no proposed scheme has been submitted through planning at City of Westminster. Now thats a thought that could focus the minds of the property managers of the NHS after 20 years of doing nothing much on the site and a winter crisis begging for more resources for our social care. What ever options are pursued eventually, this grand old building is probably worth 10’s of millions, a princely sum no one could have imagined in the middle of the 19th century" |
The Queens Arms (aka The Two Bobbies) - South Norwood SE25
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The Queens Arms (aka The Two Bobbies) - South Norwood SE25
The Queen's Arms on Portland Road was on this site from the 1840s, and rebuilt in the early 1920s. The pub was renamed The Two Bobbies after the two licencees shortly before it closed in 2005. The forecourt was used for selling cars for a few years while some rooms were squatted. A suspicious fire caused damaged in 2009 and hoardings around the pub were erected.These hoardings collapsed as a result of Storm Doris in February 2017. In 2012/3 plans were submitted to demolish the pub and build a hotel aimed at business travellers attending conferences though upon closer inspection it appeared the small rooms with tiny single beds with a hob in each room and local objectors said that it was actually designed as a hostel.The Council refused planning permission and the site is currently available for lease. Note: this place is structurally unsound & extremely dangerous so don't attempt to enter it. |
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Food Waste Works - Silvertown, E16One of the best known firms has recently left Silvertown. John Knights part of the PDM/Saria/ReFood Group started out in candle manufacturing over 135 years ago then Knight's Castile Soap & Primrose Soap (one of the most popular brands in the world) and evolved into a full time food renderer. Until recently the plant processed more than 100,000 tonnes a year of food chain by-products, from local butchers, abattoirs and other meat producers producing renewable power, pet food ingredients, edible fats as well as ingredients for the organic chemical manufacturing. The Silvertown plant has relocated to Dagenham freeing up a large patch of valuable land beside the River Thames in an area that is seeing much regeneration though the immediate surroundings are still very industrial (for the moment, at least) with Tarmac works and the Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup factory. The aromas from the latter two are nothing compared to that smell from Knight's.In 2012 they were fined £120K after Newham Council received about 300 complaints from members of the public alleging odours from John Knight.According to the Council website there were scores of complaints to the council from residents over a period of summer months. One described the stench as “a repugnant, distasteful, rancid odour that smells exactly like meat that has gone off ... distinctive, rancid, pungent smell of rotten flesh”. The pictures here are of a small depot just outside of the main site. |
The Bird in Hand - Croydon
The Bird in Hand (and briefly the Bird of Pride before reverting to its former name) on Sydenham Road was built beside the Croydon Canal in the 1820s. The canal closed in 1836 and replaced with a railway line but the pub carried on until recently and was advertised itself as "Croydon's Longest Running and Only Gay Bar - serving as a Croydon Gay Bar for nearly 30 years." Jo, the landlady, interviewed in East London Lines said the smoking ban has made customers think twice before leaving their house, choosing to drink and smoke in the comfort of their own homes rather than be exposed to the elements in the British winter. The Bird in Hand was a target for criminals, having been robbed, even at gunpoint, more than a dozen times during Jo’s tenure as landlady.
The premises are now being marketed as a development opportunity.
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Bow
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Bermondsey
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Isle of Dogs
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Anerley
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St Ann’s Police Station - Tottenham, N15
One of many police stations to close in London in recent years. Many of the buildings at the back have been demolished apart from this one which will be refurbished to provide 8 new apartments alongside a further 24 newbuild apartments and townhouses. Most of the building has already been gutted out leaving not alot to see.
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Silvertown, E16 - Junction of Hartmann Rd and Connaught Rd
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2014
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Croydon - The Toy Tree RIPAlong the Gloucester Road (at the St James Road end) was a huge collection of cuddly toys. Apparently the skip company that occupied the site found a discarded toy in one of their skips and they put it in the tree. More and more abandoned cuddly toys were added to the tree and then also along the fence above the front wall. The skip company have now vacated the premises along with most of the toys leaving only a few toys left in the tree. |
2014
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Above pics of the Croydon Toy Tree taken in 2014 and below in 2017
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Review of Paul Talling's Neckinger walk. March 2017. From www.eastbournediary.co.uk:
I’m a Londoner by birth, but there’s so much of it it’s impossible to every know it all. Last year we took one of Paul Talling’s London Lost Rivers walks along the route of the Fleet and enjoyed it so much that last week we were back for more.
These are guided walks unlike any others. The groups are small and many people are regulars. You have to book online months in advance, and when new walks are announced most of them are full within a day of the email going out! Paul is an absolute mine of information, not just about the history of the places on the walk, but everything else too – from where it was exactly that Turner painted ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ to which of the local pubs had to shut in the eighties because of a ‘bit of trouble’. It’s a real mix of Paul’s own lived experience and his meticulous research. The tours feel really informal and personal – unscripted and relaxed, and always ending at a ‘real boozer’. We stopped for a drink (and a sausage roll on the house) at one of Paul’s down-to-earth boozers, The George, not far from Elephant & Castle. Convivial and cheap!
I’m a Londoner by birth, but there’s so much of it it’s impossible to every know it all. Last year we took one of Paul Talling’s London Lost Rivers walks along the route of the Fleet and enjoyed it so much that last week we were back for more.
These are guided walks unlike any others. The groups are small and many people are regulars. You have to book online months in advance, and when new walks are announced most of them are full within a day of the email going out! Paul is an absolute mine of information, not just about the history of the places on the walk, but everything else too – from where it was exactly that Turner painted ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ to which of the local pubs had to shut in the eighties because of a ‘bit of trouble’. It’s a real mix of Paul’s own lived experience and his meticulous research. The tours feel really informal and personal – unscripted and relaxed, and always ending at a ‘real boozer’. We stopped for a drink (and a sausage roll on the house) at one of Paul’s down-to-earth boozers, The George, not far from Elephant & Castle. Convivial and cheap!