Ian

Ian has lived in SE18 for close to 40 years. He is a white male in his 70s, a retired music teacher and grandparent. He speaks Urdu and Hindi had spend much of his teaching career working with local migrant families in primary schools and early years settings. He says in his photo journal:

“My relationship with Woolwich has always included seeing it, to some degree, through the eyes of people whose parents, or they themselves, came originally as migrants.”

He contributed two very personal journals that integrate stories of his early years, upbringing, his romance with his wife Sheila, his years teaching music, to his current day-to-day activities that revolve around being a grand parent and Sheila’s partner and carer (she was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2004). Ian enjoys music making and he thinks about Woolwich as a musical place. However his contact with the town centre is sporadic, largely due him sensing its decline over the years and having some bad experiences with wheelchair access.

The walking journal (below) starts from Admaston Road, where he and Sheila bought their first house, notes many of the beautiful local green spaces they have enjoyed together over the years. Their relationship with these spaces has shifted, and their journeys have changed over time, most markedly in response to Sheila’s brain tumour diagnosis. Ian identifies walks that have a good path for a rollator or wheelchair and how they now spend more time closer to home, most notably enjoying their garden and grandchildren.

His photo journal (below) introduces his relationship to Woolwich followed by a week tracing his day to day activities in summer 2021, illustrating his love of music, the arts, politics and his deeply caring relationship with Sheila and his family. He reflects on the regeneration of Woolwich, expressing concern about social cleansing and mismanagement of new developments, and worries about the future of Woolwich once the army leaves.

© Ian Russell / Lizzie Fort / part of Woolwich Wandering, 2022