Thamesmead - Hidden London Contact Thamesmead, Greenwich/​Bexley Once dubbed the ‘town of the twenty-​​first century’ Thamesmead is a vast housing estate, with some peripheral industry, situated on former marshland between Woolwich and Erith The River Thames here makes its most northerly excursion within Greater London, so Thamesmead is on the same latitude as Westminster. Its name was the winning entry in a newspaper competition, although it has been suggested that the planners always had that name in mind – and they simply waited for a competition entrant to come up with it too. After the land was vacated by the military, the Greater London Council developed Thamesmead in fits and starts from the mid-​​1960s to the early 1980s. The area was divided into sectors, of which Thamesmead South was the main housing zone, while Thamesmead East was initially designated for industry and commerce. Thamesmead Central offers the majority of the town’s retail facilities – but these are woefully inadequate for a settlement of such proportions.

Thamesmead North was the last of the municipally built zones, while Thamesmead West later saw private devel­opment on a major scale. The first buildings used pre-​​cast concrete but this was subsequently abandoned in favour of more humane materials. As the map below shows, the topography is dominated by a series of lakes and canals that serve to drain surface water – as well as providing good fishing and relieving the starkness of the built environment. After the abolition of the GLC, the estate’s ownership trans­ferred to a trust company and the founders’ wishful vision of a futuristic community has largely been abandoned in favour of tradi­tional British suburban housebuilding. Yarnton Way, Thamesmead South Forecasts of Thamesmead’s final population have halved from the original target of 100,000. Despite a rapid spurt of growth since the turn of the century, even the revised figure looks unlikely to eventuate. Because of its remoteness – and perhaps also its bleak ambience – Thamesmead has not proved a popular place in which to live. This has led to a spiral of decline and part of the district is now perceived as a ‘ sink estate ’.

In an effort to address Thamesmead’s problems, the Peabody housing association agreed in May 2013 to work with local authorities and other funders on a 10-​​year regen­eration project that would include the construction of 700 new homes and associated community facilities. The figure was later revised upwards to a remarkable 3,000 homes across two housing zones. In October 2016 Bexley council’s planning committee approved Peabody’s detailed plans for the first 525 homes and outline plans for a thousand more. Also in October 2016 the Mayor of London announced (tentative) plans for an extension of the Docklands Light Railway from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead. Stanley Kubrick used Thamesmead South for location scenes in his 1971 masterpiece A Clockwork Orange: Southmere lake doubles as the ‘Flat Block Marina’, an old tramp is attacked under a walkway by the shopping centre and Alex dumps his fellow droogs into the water beside Binsey Walk. Jonathan Harvey’s ‘urban love story’ Beautiful Thing (play 1993, film 1996) is set in Thamesmead.

From 2009 to 2013 Thamesmead’s least glamorous parts were the setting for E4’s award-​​winning comic drama Misfits. Postal districts and postcode area: SE28, SE2 and Erith, DA18 Population: 31,824 (Bexley’s ward of Thamesmead East and Greenwich’s ward of Thamesmead Moorings, 2011 census – a 42 per cent increase on 2001) Stella English: How a star was born on Kubrick's mean streets | The Independent Profiles Stella English: How a star was born on Kubrick's mean streets How did the 'Apprentice' winner overcome a childhood on one of Britain's worst estates? Rob Sharp and Terri Judd report Tuesday 21 December 2010 00:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Stella English with Lord Sugar after becoming the Apprentice winner in 2010 PA It is a sprawling south-east London housing development so rotten that it was used as a location for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, a film synonymous with urban violence.

So it's something of a surprise that the graffiti-lined avenues of Thamesmead have generated a winner of The Apprentice. The series of housing estates, known for their high crime levels and grey concrete buildings, exemplify the rags-to-riches tale of 31-year-old Stella English. The businesswoman and mother-of-two, whose early life was typified by violence and neglect, was crowned winner of the BBC reality contest on Sunday evening. Her prize was a £100,000-a-year job with businessman Lord Alan Sugar and a life far removed from the canals and underpasses of the overcrowded inner London ghetto she once called home. "My childhood was a painful one," Ms English said on the programme's spin-off The Final Five. "My mother had a lot of problems coping with things. It was quite a lonely hard time for me." The business manager said she was "on cloud nine" after beating 24-year-old investment banker Chris Bates to win the show. Ms English described how her father had abandoned her at a young age, leaving her mother Drusilla unable to care for her due to illness. She was taken in by her great aunt, Stella Brockman, who raised her in loco parentis.

"Stella had a hard time," Ms Brockman told the programme. "Her mother wasn't a homemaker. She was unable to look after her, simple as that. Stella was able to do more or less what she wanted and she didn't know right from wrong. She was turning into a proper wild child." With her father absent, Ms English also spent time in children's care homes and was once sent to live with her uncle in Cornwall to keep her away from trouble in London. She also had aspirations to become a model, reportedly posing in her underwear aged 19 on a balcony overlooking the Thames. Situated between the towns Woolwich and Belvedere, what is known as the Thamesmead Housing Estate is a series of social housing developments built in the 1960s on former marshland. It is home to some 50,000 people. In recent years the estate has become known as the "fraud capital of the UK" because of its association with West African criminal gangs. One fraud prevention service told the BBC last year that Thamesmead's SE28 postcode had the worst record for credit card fraud of any postal address in the country.

In the 1990s, when Ms English was a teenager, gangs with names like the Goldfish Gang, the Natty Turn Outs, the Firm and the Woolwich Mafia patrolled the streets of Thamesmead. Racially motivated murders were common, and the British National Party once planned a "Wogs Out" campaign outside the area's rows of run-down shops. It was within this environment that the steely blond Ms English drank in one of London's most notorious pubs, The Wildflower, where gangs with knives and clubs would fight after hours. On Bentham Road in the heart of Thamesmead, the pub has since been converted into a squat redbrick church called the Christian Life Centre, and is surrounded by barbed wire. A sign outside it now reads "Jesus Is Lord – Your Blessing Awaits You". "It wasn't the nicest pub to be honest," said one local barman, who did not want to be named. "There were always fights breaking out and it wasn't the kind of place you'd like to be caught after dark." Yesterday, along the estate's darkened walkways, only the odd flashing Santa seen from the street through net curtains provided respite from the gloom.

"Thamesmead has a terrible reputation," explained one local, Karen Thacker. "Good luck to her [Stella], she has bettered herself. If she can do it, anyone can. It might encourage other youngsters." Nigerian-born Charles Omoighe, who runs a local convenience store, added: "Good for her. It paints the area in a positive light. It has improved a lot. There is good racial co-existence here in sharp contrast to the not-so-distant past. It is an opportunity a lot of people would give an arm and a leg for, not just for the salary – we could all do with that – but also it could make her." It was at The Wildflower that Ms English met one of her former boyfriends, Danny Johnson. Her current partner, scaffolder Ray Dewar, was reportedly cleared of threatening witnesses due to give evidence against the son of a notorious gangster in 1993. Ms English has dismissed rumours that she used to socialise with some of London's most notorious crime families as "laughable". But whatever the truth about her past, those days are now firmly behind her.

Despite her troubled beginnings, Ms English subsequently reinvented herself as a businesswoman who was not averse to working 80-hour weeks. She studied a one-year business course before adding City firms such as Merrill Lynch, Nomura and Daiwa Securities to her CV. She has spent the past year quietly working for IT firm Viglen, one of the companies in Lord Sugar's business empire, as a project manager in schools and hospitals. She lives in St Albans with Mr Dewar and her sons, Frank and Edward. "As well as setting an example to my own children, I would like people generally to realise that you are in charge of your own destiny," she said in an interview earlier this week. "I want my children to see that and do things for themselves as well. I'm not going to hand that to them on a plate." Lord Sugar praised her drive: "At an early age you never had all these qualifications, then went out of the way to train yourself and get yourself the job that you've got – and that shows me a lot of determination," he said. At the very least, that drive has resulted in Ms English trading urban decay for a seal of approval from one of the business world's highest-profile spokesmen.

More about: CIBSE Case Study Thamesmead Estate Refurbishment - Designing Buildings Wiki CIBSE Case Study Thamesmead Estate Refurbishment -- CIBSE 15:38, 29 July 2014 (BST) Article from the June 2012 edition of the CIBSE Journal written by Mark Dowson Contents [ edit ] Introduction The transformation of a hard-to-treat 1960s property into a low carbon home involved the use of some unusual technology. The Thamesmead housing estate in south-east London is a key example of the often poorly insulated and undervalued concrete dwellings built in the 1960s. It was featured in the Stanley Kubrick film, A Clockwork Orange, and more recently on television in E4’s Misfits. But its other claim to fame is that it is now part of ‘ Retrofit for the Future’, a government-funded competition launched by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) in 2009. The aim of the competition was to develop innovative, scalable, whole-house refurbishment strategies with potential to reduce 80% of CO2 emissions in low-rise social housing .

Following two intense design phases, 86 teams across the UK were shortlisted and awarded £150,000 to implement their strategies with occupied dwellings . The selected properties are now being monitored over a two-year period after refurbishment , with the findings feeding into research papers and nationwide design guidance. As a shortlisted team, Buro Happold collaborated with Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects , Gallions Housing Association , Martin Arnold Associates surveyors and Axis Europe contractors to super-insulate a pre-cast concrete end-of-terrace house on the Thamesmead estate. Like millions of buildings across the UK , the estate consists largely of properties with solid walls, single glazing and uninsulated floors/roofs responsible for a significant amount of wasted heat. In its unrefurbished state, the hard-to-treat property suffered from moisture-related problems such as condensation , rising damp and mould growth , made worse by insufficient heating and high rates of fuel poverty . It possessed a mixture of singleglazed and old double-glazed windows , unused ground-floor garages (too narrow for modern cars) and a first-floor walkway.

[ edit ] Transformation Through extensive retrofit works, the property has been transformed into a ‘near Passivhaus ’ six-bedroom house, super-insulated with external cladding , triple glazing throughout and high levels of air tightness . Fresh air is provided by a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery (MVHR). Ten photovoltaic (PV) panels and a vacuum tube collector on the roof provide renewable electricity and water heating . Expected U-values and other projected performance data are shown in the table below. A key innovation of the Thamesmead project is a highly-insulated solar-air collector prototype integrated into the external insulation on the south façade. The prototype consists of a cavity containing a black perforated metal sheet to absorb solar radiation and a highly insulated translucent cover, consisting of polycarbonate panels fitted with high-performance granular ‘ aerogel ’ insulation , to reduce heat losses to the outside. Aerogel is an emerging material in the UK construction market. This unique nano-porous translucent insulation material has the lowest thermal conductivity of any solid, retaining up to four times as much heat as conventional insulation , whilst being highly transparent to light and solar radiation .

It is available commercially as translucent granules encapsulated within glass or multi-wall polycarbonate sheets, or as particles embedded within opaque insulation boards and blankets. The material can be applied to a building in a variety of ways. Linked to the property’s MVHR, extracted air from the kitchen and bathrooms is fed into the solar collector cavity, where it is heated by incoming solar radiation . This heat is then used to provide additional energy indirectly to heat the incoming fresh air supply to the property’s living room and bedrooms. Automatic flow and bypass controls maintain comfortable living conditions all year round. Some promising monitored results have already been observed for this system, indicating that it will play an important role in heating the property during cold-sunny conditions. During a seven-day controlled test in October 2011, the solar collector outlet reached 45C on a cold sunny day, preheating the supply air in the mechanical ventilation system to 30C, enabling the house to maintain comfortable living conditions at 21-22C, without additional heating . A custom-built ‘ aerogel door’ developed by Proctor Group was also integrated into this retrofit .

The double leaf plant room door incorporates a 30 mm-thick opaque aerogel blanket, capable of achieving a central U-value as low as 0.39 W/sq m.K, or 0.65 W/sq m.K including the frames. In a separate application, 80 mm of aerogel was also applied to the ground-floor slab in a zone where the floor-to-ceiling height was limited. [ edit ] Evaluation Onsite work at the property finished in March this year, and a large family is expected to move in over the next one to two months. Since last August, and for another 18 months, a package of wireless monitoring equipment is being used to capture important information such as the internal temperature and CO2 levels within the house, power consumption of the MVHR, energy generation of the PV panels and solar water heater, as well as the total consumption of gas, electricity and water. A roof-mounted solar radiation sensor, combined with temperature and humidity sensors inside the aerogel solar collector cavity and MVHR ductwork , provide a unique insight into this system’s performance.

Ultimately, the success of the retrofit will rely heavily on the occupants’ comfort and satisfaction levels, combined with how well they engage with new technologies and conserve energy at home. Interviews will be held to facilitate this process. Nevertheless, through this deep retrofit , the expected value of the property will have increased greatly, particularly due the extended living space, new kitchen-diner and additional two bedrooms. There is scope to retrofit millions of buildings to make deep cuts in CO2 emissions. However, effective implementation is no small task. Solutions must account for the variety in age, size, quality , composition, function, asset value and social value across the existing building stock, as well as the different needs, expectations and budgets of homes owners and occupiers. Understanding which solutions are cost effective and deliver real savings in-use is imperative. [ edit ] Specification Walls: 300 mm of Permarock EPS insulation to achieve U-value of 0.1 W/sq m.K.

Yellow render with aluminium fins Roof: New roof with airtight membrane, services core and PIR 300mm insulation for U-value of 0.1 W/sq m.K Windows : Passivhaus -certified Nordan N-tech triple glazing with U-value of 0.8 W/sq m.K and solar G-value of 0.5 Doors : Passivhaus -certified front door. Plant door custom built by Proctor Group with U-value of 0.65 W/sq m.K Ground floor: U-value of 0.15 W/sq m.K throughout. Spacetherm aerogel insulation used in zone with 80mm space available Air tightness : Pro Clima airtight tapes, sealants and sleeves used throughout. Target: 0.6 cu m/sq m/hr @50 Pa. Best on-site: 3.5 cu m/ sq m/hr @50 Pa Ventilation : Nuaire MRXBOX95B-WH1 unit with summer bypass. Extract air for heat recovery boosted by aerogel solar collector Heating : Warm air supplied by MVHR.

System boiler with small-zoned radiators for peak winter conditions Hot water: 500 litre cylinder fed by electric immersion and boiler. A 3 sq m vacuum tube collector meets 42% of load Electricity generation: Ten PV panels generate 2.30 kW peak. Array is ballasted using aluminium frame to avoid piercing insulation . Lights and appliances : Low energy fittings and light bulbs with A-rated appliances specified throughout property [ edit ] Predicted CO2 emissions Readers suggest the 10 best ... council estates | Culture | The Guardian Readers suggest the 10 best ... council estates Readers suggest the 10 best ... council estates Share on Messenger Close Last week we bought you our 10 best council estates . Here we present your thoughts on the ones that got away Observer and Guardian readers Friday 22 November 2013 07.41 EST Thamesmead, South East London Country Hall architects, 1968As recommended by: CaptCrash and bernardtheotter Previously marshland, Thamesmead is a new town funded by the Greater London Council in the 1960s. Its original architecture won awards and potential residents had to be vetted to live there.

However, abandoned plans for better transport links and new shopping and leisure facilities led to its decline. Nevertheless, its monochrome setting on the man-made lakes have become iconic after featuring in films such as A Clockwork Orange and the Channel 4 series Misfits Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian Pinterest Arlington House, Margate Russell Diplock and Associates, 1964As recommended by: cagnolino Labelled Britain's first 'park and buy' in 1964, Arlington House is an 18-storey apartment building with a shopping piazza and car park at ground level. Built on the seafront, it was marked as the first stage of Margate's redevelopment. Little did locals know that the likes of Mary Portas would still be at it in the 21st century. She recently wrote to the government outraged at plans to turn the ground floor into a Tesco superstore Photograph: Paul Gisby Photography/Alamy Pinterest Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate, Camden Neave Brown, 1978As recommended by: FelixG This low-rise, high-density estate was designed by architect Neave Brown as a challenge to the government's preference for high-rise.

Finalised in 1968 but not completed for another decade this estate cost a whopping £20.9m to build. In 1989 a group of residents, unhappy with the way the place was deteriorating, began a campaign and the building gained a Grade II listing in 1993. This made it the youngest and largest building ever to be listed, as well as the first modern housing estate Photograph: John Minihan/Rex Features Pinterest Blenheim Gardens Estate, Brixton Lambeth Council, 1971 and 1974As recommended by: ID3945985 There are not many (if any) council estates in the UK that can boast a windmill, but Blenheim Gardens in Brixton can. Built in 1816, it was a working mill until 1934, before it was restored in 2010 with heritage lottery money, making it a focal point of an estate made up of low-rise houses.

The reader who suggested this said the estate is “surely the loveliest” with homes that are “warm and efficient” Photograph: Alastair Indge/Alamy Pinterest Robin Hood Gardens, Tower Hamlets Alison and Peter Smithson, 1972As recommended by: Oliver Long and bignosey This complex, built in 1972, was designed by married couple Alison and Peter Smithson as an example of the 'streets in the sky' concept that was so popular at the time. Despite several attempts by architects and lobby groups to list this building, demolition started in 2013. Oliver Long says: 'For me that building is a crumbling embodiment of optimism.

It's inconceivably important and incredibly monumental.' Bignosey doesn't agree: 'That estate is a warren of violence that no visitor can forget' Photograph: VIEW Pictures Ltd/Alamy A Town From A Wilderness by Tom Bennett - issuu issuu 8 - 1 3 THE PLAN 1 4 - 21 THE EARLY DAYS 2 2 - 3 5 THE PHOTOGRAPHER 3 6 - 51 THE LOCATION 5 2 - 5 9 THE DOWNFALL 60 - 7 1 ALL NEWS IS BAD NEWS 7 2 - 8 3 A DAY AT THAMESMEAD 84 - 9 9 A COMPLETE FAILURE? Page 1 THE BEG THAMESMEAD 1968 - PRESENT Page 2 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE BEGINNING Thamesmead 1967 J A King INTRODUCTION ‘Thamesmead was intended to be a vibrant, riverside community in south-east London.

Forty years after being built, the area is known as a notorious hub of fraud, dubbed Little Lagos because of its association with west African criminal gangs.’ Phil Kemp 2009. Thamesmead is a district that lies within the London Borough’s of Greenwich and Bexley. Thamesmead is the name given to a group of housing developments that were built in the 1960’s. The idea behind Thamesmead was a positive one built of futuristic prospects of an ‘ideal’ world. In many ways it was a ‘planned utopia’, somewhere that would be social and safe. Nowadays Thamesmead carries associations with crime and racism. Years later, I’ve taken a look back at the plans and early days of the Thamesmead estates and compared them to the location today, The concrete jungle is now outdated and tired. However has the idea totally failed? I plan on concluding wether the utopian dream is alive in Thamesmead or is it just another example that those who believe in a utopia on earth are naive and chasing a futile cause.

Page 5 AN THAMESMEAD Cherry Potts 2011 Page 9 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PLAN Thamesmead 1960 Example of the futuristic designs created on estates. Page 10 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PLAN Thamesmead model 1968 GLC THE PLAN u·to·pi·a - often Utopia is an ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects. An impractical, idealistic scheme for social and political reform. The thought process behind Thamesmead’s estates was to create social housing developments that didn’t make the same mistakes made by earlier estates. The problem was thought to be middle class civilians being uprooted into the’s developments without knowing the area or the people. This was therefore thought to be the cause of conflict and anti-social behaviour. The plan was to encourage families to develop within these ‘societies’. Therefore families of those already living on the estate would be given housing priority over others. The buildings (see left) were designed with geometric and angular structures. These structures were built with the intent to encourage socialising between residents.

In other words it was harder to avoid bumping into your neighbours when walking around the estate, Page 11 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PLAN Thamesmead Joseph Salmassia Example of the architectural diversity on the estate. Page 12 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PLAN Overpass Designed by M C Escher The Thamesmead estate was originally a mixture of medium rise storey blocks and modernist town houses. The diverse array of buildings were created by infamous architects and designers of the time who were all very keen to get involved. The new developments were fed on a wave of optimism and publicity. Thamesmead was seen as ‘the answer’ to London’s overflowing population and many seeked to move there. It was an exciting time for the district and London looked on to see how well their new ‘project’ would develop. Page 13 Text and Image courtesy of Bexley Local Studies Archive Page 17 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE EARLY DAYS Southmere Lake, Thamesmead, 1968 E.P.Kempsell Terry Gooch and family presented with plaque.

1968 Kentish Times Page 18 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE EARLY DAYS Southmere Lake, Thamesmead, 1968 E.P.Kempsell THE EARLY DAYS Transport Manager Terry Gooch moved into to Coralline Walk, Thamesmead, with his wife and three children back in 1968. They were the first residents to move into the new estate. Terry was originally from Peckham and he, along with his family, were chosen to be the ‘face’ of this new development. This particular development was spread between Bexley and Greenwich. The following text is taken from an interview Terry gave the BBC in 2008. “We thought it was going to be the be all and end all of everything - and it appeared to be at first. The plans were so revolutionary - we thought we’d be the start of that revolution. We were treated to chauffeured cars and attention from those in charge.” Page 19 School pupils in Thamesmead G.

Plemper Page 20 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - In its early days Thamesmead was such an exclusive estate and so sought after as a residency, that potential tenants had to be vetted to see if they were suitable to live there. The estates were built amongst nature reserves and canals and lakes were introduce as water was thought to have a ‘calming effect on the youth.’ The design of the buildings won awards in the late 60’s and the plans seemed to be working. Thamesmead was theoretically an ‘ideal’ place to live. As near to a utopia as you could get. It had the natural world, award winning architecture, chosen people and all within a stones throw from the big city. What could possibly go wrong? Page 21 Page 24 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER GEORGE PLEMPER George Plemper was a former teacher at Riverside School, Thamesmead. Whilst there he practiced his interest in photography by taking portraits of the children at the school throughout the 1970’s. These photographs were remained hidden for decades but were uncovered and uploaded to the internet several years ago.

They’ve brought in a lot of interest ever since. George’s photographs look at the children of the estate, specifically the children of Riverside school. In a world of ‘social seclusion’, how are the children effected? The most revealing aspect of Plempers portraits are the lack of smiles. He hasn’t forced the children to smile and therefore there is a real sense of genuine emotion in his shots. In many of his compositions, he uses groups of children, sometimes individuals, amongst wide stretches of land or against plain, dull backgrounds. There is a real sense of isolation in George’s work and a strong sense of place to go with this. The figures seem very ‘placed’ which of course, we know they were. Page 25 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER Sam Uba 1978 G.Plemper The following interview was from George Plemper 2012. I wanted to find out from the man himself what life was like on the estate and how this impacted his photography. When you first heard about the plan to built an ‘idealistic society’ in Thamesmead, what were your initial thoughts?

I was a young lad back then, full of myself, with little interest in the world outside of my own existence, I must have read or heard about Thamesmead somewhere because I recognised its location when I saw the advert for the Head of Chemistry post at Riverside School, I think I knew it was a “new town” and this excited me, I believed that the world could be changed for the better. When I stepped off the train at Abbey Wood and walked across to Yarnton Way, I did sense something new, exciting. The concrete walkways, lack of trees (back then they were only saplings) all spoke to me of the brave new worlds I read about in science fiction. I was happy to find myself in this environment. When you first heard that you had the job at Riverside, did you have any preconceptions about teaching there? No. When I told people that I had got a new job in Thamesmead, they went quiet, and I did overhear a friend whispering that I must be mad to even think about going there. Poor naive George. This made me more determined to go there.

When I was interviewed the Headmaster was very friendly and energetic, he seemed to understand what I wanted to go with the camera and was very supportive. ‘There were family houses with gardens and a living space but this was surrounded by a 7 storey wall of flats, a bit like the battlements of a castle.’ What was the diversity like in the school (religion, race, sex, academic ability etc)? Well, issues such as diversity were not a significant issue back then, it was a school that taught local children, everyone was welcome. Looking back though I realise that there was a lot going on that I was not aware of. Patrick Butler of the Guardian has pointed out it, the school was predominantly white, working class and this is reflected in my picture. But Thamesmead did take in groups that had left their countries under duress. Sam Uba was from Biafra, you will see that there were a number of people from Chile who had fled the Pinnochet regime and a bit later, when I left, a large number of Vietnamese ‘people arrived’ in Thamesmead. I did not sense that this was an issue and I felt that the new comers added an extra vitality to the school.

Page 27 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER Self Potrait G.Plemper Page 28 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER What was the area around Riverside like, was there anything unique about it? You can see some of my pictures of the area, it was a white concrete expanse of modern architecture, an island of reclaimed marshland surrounded by traditional housing in Abbey Wood and Belvedere. To the North and West this was just empty land. I was shocked when I returned to the area a year or so ago, it was completely filled with more modern housing, buses, shopping centres. When I lived there it was a quiet, empty area. ‘The camera became my life-line and I decided to portray an image of a “small town teacher” in many ways the collection of images is a self-portrait.’ Did you live nearby? Was Thamesmead ever a place you would have considered living in? When I moved up from the Isle of Sheppey I lived, for the first term in a bedsit above a shop in Blackheath.

I then applied for a council flat and was allocated a council flat on the fifth floor of Raymond Postgate Court, I was one of the first people to move into the block, apart from the building works during the day, it was eerily quiet at night. This changed quite dramatically when all the housing was filled. I had no concerns about living in Thamesmead, I came from a council house in Sunderland, so what was the problem? The plan was to create a close network of residents in Thamesmead and the surrounding estates, was this evident in your time there? At the time, Thamesmead was built in stages, when I arrived Stage I & II was complete and the new Stage III was being constructed. I did sense that the dream of building a close network of residents in Stage 1 & II was working, I did sense a sort of community spirit at the school, there was an energy about the place. I found living in Stage III to be totally different, the architecture was very different, there were family houses with gardens and a living space but this was surrounded by a seven storey wall of flats, a bit like the battlements of a castle.

At first I loved my flat, the heating and hot water which was supplied by the council but there was no balcony and, for me, the flat was little more than a box in a wall, divorced from the community and families below. I did not like living by myself in Stage III. Page 29 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER ‘THE PICTURE BECAME MY HOLD ON REALITY.’ Page 30 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER What made you want to start capturing the children? Was there anything particular you felt needed/worth portraying? I bought a camera a couple of years earlier, in an effort to create visual aids and make my lessons more interesting. I had no real desire to create images of anything really. But having a camera in the classroom meant it was natural to take pictures of the pupils, there were no issues of exploitation back then, it was expected that I would behave appropriately and that was it. Now this is the wonderful part.

I thought of myself as a complete failure as a teacher, I struggled to keep control in the classroom and all my dreams of changing the world slowly ebbed away to the point where I was in danger of loosing all faith in humanity. Amazingly, when I picked up the camera, I found I could be the person I wanted to be, I did not have to be a control freak, I could talk to the children as a person, not a teacher and when I looked at the images, I realised that my vision of humanity that was in danger of disappearing , was there right in front of me. The picture became my hold on a reality that was becoming so distant. The other thing was that people seemed to sense this feeling of humanity in my pictures and they also liked them. Of course, like anyone, I liked to be liked and I loved the sense of respect people had for me as a photographer not a teacher. The camera became my life-line and I decided to portray an image of a “small town teacher” in many ways the collection of images is a self-portrait. ‘It was as if everything feared came true.

I was completely lost.’ I noticed many of the children aren’t smiling in the photographs, they also appear very isolated at times, was this a conscious choice of yours of something that just developed? The wonderful thing about these pictures is that they are a reflection of my reality at the time, this is what I saw, sometimes smiling, sometimes not, sometimes feeling isolated, sometimes larking around. This was my vision, the images are real, as they appeared before me, there is little thought and lots of emotion in the images. I consider myself to be a person first and a photographer second. If you had to describe Thamesmead during your time there, in just one sentence, what would it be? Did you see a change in yourself in the time you spent there? Did you see a change in the area as a whole? Thamesmead “A highway of diamonds with nobody on it.” I did change, all my dreams disappeared, I did manage to retain a sense of humanity though. It was as if everything feared came true. I was completely lost. The area changed tremendously, I left Riverside in 1978 and continued to live in Stage III for another 4 years.

The sense of community was absent and I do think the architecture contributed to this. I left teaching and did not look back, I do not know whether or not the pupils changed. Page 31 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER Page 32 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER ONDS TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER Eugene Soulieman, Riverside School 1977 G.Plemper Three girls, Riverside School 2008 G.Plemper Page 34 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE PHOTOGRAPHER I noticed you returned to capture the children of riverside school now, what were the main differences in the pupils and area now? The main differences were that the school management was now a professional management, with people appointed into management roles, the school sent out disclaimers and asked the parent’s permission to have their children’s photographs taken. The children were still children, I did not sense any fundamental change in their humanity but they were much more conscious of their image and the potential for their celebrity.

The ethnic mix had changed and the children were eager to have their “ten minutes of fame” this was not the case 35 years ago. Would you describe Thamesmead as a success? I don’t know, I did go back a year ago to film the Great Estate sequence in Thamesmead and many of my pupils still lived in the area, so this must indicate something. ‘I went into teaching full of belief and idealism, knowing that our children had limitless potential. After five years I realised that there was no place for idealism in teaching.’ George Plemper Despite the fading dreams and ‘empty land’ that George talks about, the early Thamesmead still had hope. What we do see in Plemper’s original photographs is multiculturalism. His entire works on Thamesmead shows families and friendships from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. However there was a risk that lie within Thamesmead good intentions. If you create an isolation, a secluded society and you begin putting people in there from different religions, different viewpoints, different worlds, are you not tempting fate? You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

The future of Thamesmead now lay just as much in the residents hands as its creators. Page 35 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS ON- FILM THE LOC Page 36 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - FILM ON CATION Page 37 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE 1971 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION ‘Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.’ PRISON CHAPLAN, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE Page 38 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION A CLOCKWORK ORANGE In 1971 a controversial, violent and cult classic called ‘A Clockwork Orange’ was released. It was based on the earlier, 1962 novel by Antony Burgess about a future dystopian Britain. The choice of setting therefore had to represent this idea of ‘the future’ along with dystopia. Ironically, the ‘planned’ utopian society of Thamesmead, was picked out as the perfect destination to film such a movie. The plot revolves around a youth gang and follows them as they undergo violence/rape and psychological torment on those they meet.

Director Stanley Kubrick felt to fully represent futuristic London, he needed several locations. Thamesmead estate was chosen as one of these. Initially this seems like a positive and a sign of fulfilment for Thamesmead. After all, Thamesmead was built to be a ‘futuristic society/utopia.’ However if you watch the film or know the story, you know that the future we are told about is far from a utopia, it is, in fact, a dystopia. So why did Kubrick choose Thamesmead to reflect this? The society in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is suggested to be a communist, perhaps socialist one. The idea is that everyone is equal. This is reminiscent in the ideas proposed for Thamesmead, a developed society with ‘ideal’ relationships. The plot however questions morality and what happens to a persons morals when they’re told what to think. What Kubrick’s film shows us is that what’s good for society, isn’t necessarily good for every individual, and that has consequences. Was A Clockwork Orange therefore predicting the future for Thamesmead?

Page 39 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ‘The concrete high-rises that surround the project were the setting for Stanley Kubrick’s violent film, Clockwork Orange. Its bleak, futuristic depiction of violent youth has stained the town’s reputation ever since.’ ‘The fraud capital of the UK’ - BBC NEWS 2009 Page 40 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION Thamesmead South Housing Estate J.Bennett Page 42 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION The above image is of Thamesmead South Housing Estate and South Mere Lake into which Alex throws Dim and Georgie in the film.. It is also just 200 yards north of where Alex walks home at night (kicking rubbish) through an elevated plaza. This has since been demolished. Page 43 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION Misfits, E4 Thamesmead Page 44 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION Misfits is a British Science Fiction drama series about a group of young offenders on community service. During their community service they developed super-natural powers after a mysterious electrical storm.

The series was shot in Thamesmead, predominantly by Southmere Lake, Bexley. Many of the shots contain the trademark shot of the four multistory buildings of the Southmere Lake Center. Page 45 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION Misfits, E4 Screen Shots ‘If they actually knew anything, they wouldn’t be dicking around, sticking notes on lockers. They would have gone to the police.’ Nathan, Misfits Page 46 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION The Guardian’s print reviewer was also enthusiastic, saying: “Misfits is indeed silly — sillier, even, than it sounds — but it’s also brilliant: sharp, funny, dark and, in places, quite chilling.” Thamesmead was the chosen location for Misfits due to its association with dystopia. Therefore set choice for Misfits echoes the same ideas behind A Clockwork Orange. The series follows ‘delinquent’ young offenders on community service who struggle to keep control of their life after they develop super powers. The series features murder, ‘dodgy characters’ such as drug dealers, masked men and a disillusioned priest.

As the series progresses we find out more about the characters and their dark pasts. Despite being humorous and un-realistic at times, there’s no denying Misfits has a dark, rebellious nature and Thamesmead seemed like the perfect place to host these subjects. This being a far cry away from the original intentions for the estate. Page 47 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION ‘Sam: Inside your head you can build... Mark: A skyscraper Sam: Aye... a palace.’ The Optimist’s 1973 Page 48 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION The Optimists 1973 Film Shot The Optimists (otherwise known as ‘The Optimist’s of Nine Elms’) is a British drama film about a musician in a poor area of London. The film was shot in Thamesmead and despite being called ‘The Optimists’, the scenes in Thamesmead were of despair and the real optimism is through the characters. The hope only arises when the characters leave this area of London that you can see (above) was portrayed as very grey and run down.

Apart from Peter Sellers, none of the actors went on to have particularly stimulating careers and little is written about this film. It remains as forgotten as the estate it was filmed in. Page 49 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION ‘A Beautiful Thing’ 1996 Film Poster ‘A place is just somewhere where shit happens.’ Tony, ‘A Beautiful Thing.’ Page 50 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE LOCATION ‘A Beautiful Thing’ 1996 Film Shot A Beautiful Thing is a 1996 film adaptation of a play of the same name. It is about a teen boy from South East London and his battle with his own homosexuality. The film, originally made for Channel4 was filmed and set in Thamesmead. Like previous films shot here, the film focuses on poverty, drugs and violence. Alike to Misfits and A Clockwork Orange, the film uses Thamesmead to portray a ‘tough upbringing.’ However the final scene in A Beautiful Thing shows the boys acceptance of their sexuality and they advertise it to all the residents on the estate, some proved to be very accepting. It showed that hope can come from anywhere and its the people that make a community work..

Page 51 Thamesmead S. Whipps Different levels Thamesmead J.Salmassian THE DOWNFALL After decades of broken promises residents were ready for a change. Thamesmead had promised to be this change. It was seen as ‘the answer’ to London’s problem with over population, crime and discrimination. There was a lot of pressure on Thamesmead and therefore a lot that could go wrong. Thamesmead was a world of social isolation. People were ‘vetted’ before they were given residency and priority was given to families. The marshland Thamesmead was built on meant that flooding was a risk and therefore walkways were built above ground and no-one lived on the bottom floor. Optimists called these designs ‘streets in the sky.’ What this really meant was there was a no-mans land beneath, Thamesmead was designed to be a safe and friendly society however people began to fear the ‘world below’. “When people came out of their cars, they were walking into ‘no man’s land’.

Over the years it became a place where people felt uncomfortable where it was dark, where sometimes vandalism occurred.” Terry Gooch 2008 Page 55 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE DOWNFALL I hate the cold Thamesmead LoXs Photography The original plan/dream for Thamesmead started to fade into the 70’s. Money shortage meant the original plan was significantly scaled down. The plans for a shopping centre, a train station and bridge across the Thames were all scrapped. Before long, Thamesmead became a dumping ground for all other estates around. ‘Problem families’ were moved here and this encouraged original tenants to go elsewhere. This meant the dream to create a diverse community, a mixture of class and race was quickly slipping away. South Mere also began to go downhill. Properties soon became abandoned and consequently, vandalised. Families that couldn’t afford to move out felt trapped, the dream had failed. Thamesmead G. Plemper Page 57 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - THE DOWNFALL Thamesmead Estate J.

Bennett Her Majesty the Queen Tavy Bridge, Thamesmead May 1980 (Bexley Local Studies & Archive) In 1980 Thamesmead received some positive attention, something not very common for the estate. The Queen visited the area which gave a real â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;boostâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the community. Despite this, it was only a matter of time before media would continue to focus on the negative aspects of the area and the community would begin to re-segregate. Page 59 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ALL NEWS IS BAD NEWS ALL NEWS Page 60 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ALL NEWS IS BAD NEWS IS BAD NEWS Page 61 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - Rolan Adams march D. Hoffman On the 21st February 1991, fifteen year old Rolan Adams was murdered by a white youth gang. Rolan Adams was waiting at a bus stop with his younger brother Nathan when he was set upon by fourteen youths.. They had been at a local youth club and were waiting for a bus home in Thamesmead.

The youths were between the ages of sixteen and twenty six. They hurled racist abuse at Rolan and his younger brother. Rolan was stabbed from behind and tried to run, he cried out for Nathan to run also. Nathan escaped the area however Page 62 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - returned after his brother had not caught up. He found Rolan in a pool of blood, he died soon after. The youths were known to the police due to their racist behaviour toward other residents. The main attacker was sentence for life for his part however out of the other thirteen youths, only four faced trial. They were given community service for their part. The attack went down as a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;territorialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; issue and not racially motivated. Page 63 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - On June 1st 1991 (just months after the death of Rolan Adams), the BNP marched on the site where the fifteen year old was murdered.

Their focus for their march was entitled â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rights for whites.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Thamesmead, the estate built on social ideals, was overrun with segregation. Photography by P. Dee Page 64 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ALL NEWS IS BAD NEWS Rolan Adams memorial 2011 D. Hoffman ‘On a grey February day, along with fellow photographer David Hoffman, I attended the 20th anniversary memorial to the little-publicised racist murder of Rolan Adams, 15. People at the memorial told me about their stories from 20 years ago, how the racist BNP had moved in and how scared they were. Nobody of colour could visit the pub - if you did it was a gamble with your own life, and Rolan’s peers all had a story to tell on how, once, perhaps to watch a football match, or simply try to have a drink with a friend, they bravely ventured to the pub only to be chased away by white youths wielding knives, bats and chains.

In Rolan’s case it was to be fatal, just like Stephen Lawrence, 18, two miles away and two years later.’ Steve Silver Rolan Adams’ family, family friends and their supporters meet on 21st February 2011, the twentieth anniversary of his murder by a racist gang in Thamesmead, to lay a wreath in his memory. During the ceremony racist youths in a passing car threw a takeaway milk shake at the group. Rolan’s murderer, Mark Thornburrow, has recently been freed Page 67 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ALL NEWS IS BAD NEWS ‘Thamesmead was intended to be a vibrant, riverside community in south-east London. Forty years after being built, the area is known as a notorious hub of fraud, dubbed Little Lagos because of its association with west African criminal gangs.’ Phill Kemp, BBC reporter Page 68 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ALL NEWS IS BAD NEWS Ten Years of Crime, Thamesmead. March 2002 - Man jailed for four years for running a ‘forgery factory’ in his Thamesmead home. April 2002 - Double bigamist from Thamesmead escapes jail.

July 2002 - Notorious train robber, Ronnie Biggs, lists Thamesmead as home address on marriage certificate. February 2004 - Paedophile convicted of numerous offences is banned from Thamesmead home. March 2005 - Thamesmead man arrested on for ‘acts of terrorism.’ October 2009 - 22 year old male is stabbed to death by five youths, Thamesmead. August 2011 - Thamesmead woman makes false slavery claims to stay in UK. August 2011 - Community Support Officers attacked by youths September 2011 - 16 year old male is hospitalised after being stabbed in Morrisons, Thamesmead. February 2012 - 43 year old male from Thamesmead is charged for helping a prisoner escape a hospital. Page 69 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - “They were shaken by the events however they continued to patrol that night and have done so since.” PC Martyn, Thamesmead Page 70 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ALL NEWS IS BAD NEWS Burnt house, Thamesmead 2011 G. J.

Brydon In 2011 London and many other major cities in the UK fell into chaos as youths took to the streets to riot and pillage. Thamesmead, being a hub of crime, was no exception. During the 2011 summer riots, three community support officers from the Abbey wood team received reports of masked youths causing disruption in Thamesmead town centre. Following up on their report the officers discovered a group of youths, masked, hooded and carrying suspicious packages. After questioning the gang, the three officers were set on by almost thirty hoodlums. They were hit and one officer fell to the ground, all officers however managed to escape without serious injury. This was a reminder that Thamesmead was not the safe haven it was once dreamt to be, instead it remains a crime ridden society with a lack of authority. Page 71 Page 74 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A DAY AT THAMESMEAD I decided that I couldn’t get a strong enough idea of what Thamesmead is like and how it has lived up to its expectations, without visiting the place myself.

I therefore picked up my camera one day in the Easter holidays and got a train to Abbey Wood, Thamesmead’s nearest station. On arrival of Abbey Wood station, I was extremely apprehensive due to the Thamesmead‘s reputation with crime and gang culture. Unfortunately I wasn’t reassured by what greeted me on the platform. Eight police officers were lined up on the platform edge and shortly after a man was arrested. A part of me wanted to get back on the train there and then but another part of me was excited, excited to see the things I had read about, the leftover dreams of many. After I navigated myself from the station to the main estate I found myself in complete recognition. I felt like I’d been there before. The things you read about, the atmosphere you get from the photographs, it’s all reality. There were stair wells going off at all angles, dark walkways and most obviously, a complete lack of ‘community.’ One thing I didn’t expect was the vast amount of horses that seemed to ‘wander’ through any patches of green as well as the surrounding park. They seemed to sum up the air of neglect that was felt throughout the estate.

Page 75 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - The main thing I noticed in the Thamesmead estate was the complete feeling of isolation. I explored for about an hour and a half and saw a handful of people within that time. The people I did see seemed reluctant to smile, to make any sort of eye contact. People walked, head down and with purpose. It was the Easter holidays, there was a park, a lake and the sun was shining. However I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see a single child in my entire time on the estate. In my time there, I heard many echoes through tunnels and Page 76 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - underground walkways, echoes of voices. The estate was built with the intention to make people bump into one another, to make people socialise. Instead I felt a fear of the residents, a fear of the unknown. I felt unwanted by residents of Thamesmead. When I walked along the long walkway by the lake I saw people peer through curtains, it was like they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t used to seeing people there, like they feared me.

Page 77 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A DAY AT THAMESMEAD ‘PEOPLE MAKE A PLACE ...AND THERE WEREN’T ANY.’ Page 80 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A DAY AT THAMESMEAD Despite seeing a lack of people, despite feeling alone and fearful and despite the sense of neglect, I saw potential at Thamesmead. I was lucky enough to be there when the sun was out and it certainly picked out areas of beauty. The lake with the swans and ducks, shone in the sunlight, the horses grazed on clean green grass in the park and the stylistic buildings seemed so powerful against the bright sky. I got a feeling that if the estate had been better maintained, if the original plan of large family residents had worked, if the area had better links to London, this could have been an urban paradise. Sadly people make a place and from what I saw, there werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t any. Many of the buildings were now abandoned, many iconic structures (like the pyramid club) had been torn down and in many ways, it seemed the dream had failed. Page 81 E FAILURE?

Photography courtesy of Local Bus Driver blog Page 85 Page 86 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE? THAMESMEAD TOWN FC Approximately two miles from Abbey Wood train station lies Bayliss Avenue, home of Thamesmead Town FC. Thamesmead FC was formed in 1969 as a community team for local youngsters. The club merged with Thamesmead senior football team, Southlake FC in 1973 to become Thamesmead FC In 1985, Thamesmead FC was renamed Thamesmead Town FC. Thamesmead Town FC are a relatively small club. They currently reside in the Isthmian League Division One North after being promoted as champions from Kent League Premier Division in 2008. However Thamesmead seems to have a great spirit toward Thamesmead Town FC. The clubhouse, pitches and car park and other original facilities were constructed at a cost of £450,000. In 2009, a whopping 4.2 million pound regeneration project on Bayliss Avenue began, part funded by Thamesmead Trust. The work is still being carried out.

So why is Thamesmead so eager to promote their local football club? What is it they feel Thamesmead Town FC brings to the area? For a small club, Thamesmead Town FC seem to have a big attitude. They have a mascot, ‘Tommy the Toad’, who makes an appearance at every game, a supporters elite called the ‘Thamesmead Hardcore’ and most importantly, the club seems to have a future. The generation project will produce a 500 seat stand with balcony, a bar, changing facilities ,indoor sports hall and gym and most importantly, two additional football pitches and multi-use outdoor sports facilities available seven days a week to the local community.. Thamesmead Town FC seems to care about its community and creating opportunities for their own which is why Thamesmead Trust is willing to invest in them. Turnstile Bayliss Avenue D. McCreery Page 87 ‘Our players are very committed and loyal. They would run through a wall for the club.’ TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - Page 88 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE? I was lucky enough to get an interview with Thamesmead Town FC’s manager, Keith McMahon.

I wanted to know what the club meant to him and get a better idea of the impact it has on Thamesmead as a ‘community.’Below is my interview with Keith. How long have you been at Thamesmead Town? Nine years. What made you want to become manager? I got a serious injury when I was 21 and it stopped me playing. I couldn’t be without football so I started my coaching badges. I wanted to be part of football and if I couldn’t play then management was the next best thing. What’s your favourite thing about being at the club? The spirit of the club. We are like one big family and we are very ambitious. Everyone works for each other. What do you think is the best thing about working at a football club? The club let me run things from top to bottom and always 100% back my decision. How would you describe the fans? They are very passionate and want the best for the club. How would you describe the players? Our players are very committed and loyal. They would run through a wall for the club. Thamesmead Town FC D.

McCreery Page 89 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - ‘IT’S AN UP AND COMING AREA.’ Page 90 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - Thamesmead Town FC D. McCreery Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your best memory of/at Thamesmead Town? Winning the Kent League for the very 1st time for the club. It was very emotional for everyone at the club. What do you think the most important thing is for a football club to have? A future. Security of tenure is very important. Also strong foundations. I think a good youth set up is very important. Do you live nearby, how would you describe the area? I live about 6 miles away. Its an up and coming area. What do you see for the future for Thamesmead/ Thamesmead Town? I hope Thamesmead can rise up through the leagues. We have a new development being built and hopefully this will attract more supporters and the club can grow. Page 91 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE? Page 92 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE?

THAMESMEAD WEST Thamesmead West was built in 1990 onwards. It features buildings that are significantly newer and more desirable than that of the original Thamesmead estate. Located far west of Abbey Wood, by Plumstead train station, is Thamesmead West a sad reminder of what Thamesmead estate could have been? Thamesmead estate contains an eco-park, a pioneering small social/affordable housing development with homes built to high energy efficiency and environmental standards. Like the original estate it has its own lake and the area itself looks undeniably more clean and more modern than Thamesmead south. This estate seems more fitting in todays London and is in a more desirable area of Greenwich. However there are similarities between the two estates. Both areas donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feature an Underground station and bus is the most common transport. The nearest Overground rail station is a fair walk and both places have social problems, higher than the national average. So despite being newer, closer to London and more desirable, Thamesmead West seems to be failing also and perhaps one day, will end up like Thamesmead estate.

Page 93 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE? A picture of the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge. © Transport for London 2007. GATE TO THE FUTURE - THAMES GATEWAY First proposed in the 1970s, Thames Gateway Bridge was intended to connect Beckton in the London Borough of Newham with Thamesmead in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The bridge would have given Thamesmead residents a quicker route into central London, saving them travelling to the Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels or the Blackwall Tunnel for vehicles. Unfortunately for Thamesmead, the proposal never came to fruition. In November 2008, Boris Johnson, the current Mayor of London, formally cancelled the entire £500m scheme. It’s hard to determine whether the bridge would have resulted in the positive regeneration it had intended. Either way the plan caused much controversy and due to insufficient funds, it didn’t seem worth the risk. Thamesmead therefore, remained isolated and couldn’t feel further away from central London. Mayor, Boris Johnson has promised however, a ferry route between Thamesmead and Beckton.

Unfortunately, the ferry is not due to come into action until 2017 so for now, Thamesmead remains very much south of the river. Page 95 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE? Riverside Pupils Thamesmead 1978 G. Plemper A COMPLETE FAILURE? There was no denying the good nature and potential that lie in Thamesmead at the end of the 1960’s. It seemed like the answer to London’s overcrowding and run down estates. George Plempers photographs showed children from many backgrounds and ethnicity. In many of his photographs the children are smiling in large social groups. So what went wrong? Why was Thamesmead such a disappointment and has anything been achieved? Having visited Thamesmead myself I would say it still has potential. As a designer I appreciated the stylistic buildings and seeing the lake and birds in the sunlight made me saddened that no one was around to enjoy it. The estate itself was a forgotten world. I saw a handful of people there yet hundreds of property’s. It was clear to me what had gone wrong. The layout had created dark, intimidating pathways, the contact with residents seemed ‘forced’.

Rather than promoting socialising and a ‘safe haven’ the design had created a fear of others. The truth is the future forty years ago is not the same as the future now. I think the dream needs to be re-thought. The futuristic buildings are no longer new, people need a new dream, a new future. I for one felt extremely isolated in Thamesmead, partly due to the lack of people and partly due to the poor transport routes into London. For Thamesmead to have a future, it needs to have better connections. Perhaps the bridge would have created a regeneration, perhaps not. Maybe the ferry plans for 2017 will improve things, maybe not. Until dramatic changes are made, until a method of regeneration goes underway in Thamesmead, the estate will remain the forgotten Utopia. Page 97 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE? Page 98 TOWN FROM A WILDERNESS - A COMPLETE FAILURE? ‘If we don’t intervene now we could go into a spiral of decline or we could capture the growth and excitement thats happening in the Thames Gateway. We have a fantastic legacy here that from a planning perspective forty years ago was a place people would come and visit.

I think the new buildings are going to be futuristic in their own generation.’ Alison Breese, Thamesmead - 40 years on Page 99

Question: 1960s Thamesmead social housing estate in SE London was the main location for the film?
Answer: A Clockwork Orange