Karin joined the Woolwich Wandering project in 2022. She took an interest in Woolwich not only as a photographer for the guidebooks 111 Places That You Shouldn’t Miss but also as an active member of the local Green Party and has visited the length and breadth of the borough of Greenwich with camera in hand. She feels strongly about the public domain and wonders if property developers of much-needed housing are truly committed to making public spaces nicer places to be. Karin also taught English at HerCentre in the Clock Tower, Woolwich. This was an incredibly rewarding experience for her and her commute to Woolwich meant she got to learn more about this part of the borough. She is social and membership secretary of Aperture Woolwich Photographic Society and photography helped her through the grief of losing her husband to cancer.
Karin submitted a photo essay that captures her local ramblings through her photographic lens, highlighting peaceful spots, public transport, views and raising issues around littering, regeneration, community spirit.
Karin’s photo essay
Today I left home early to catch my train to Woolwich Dockyard. I often do this so I can take time out before my teaching job at the Clock Tower Community Centre. It was a wet and dreary morning and the first thing I noticed when I got off the train was the rubbish.
I needed to look beyond that and the steps that led me away through a council estate surrounded by greens and trees, very peaceful as I carried on towards a lovely willow tree and stopped to enjoy the scene. If only there had been a bench to sit on. I would’ve gladly stayed a while longer.
Someone dropped their sushi
It started to rain heavily so that was the end to any contemplation as I rushed to the Community Centre, a worn out building with a lot of soul inside. There was still time for a hot mug of tea and a warm welcome from Justin before class.
I sometimes take a walk along the Thames Path after a morning teaching English in the Clocktower Community Centre.
You never know what you might see and I’m very passionate about photography and think it important to look all around, not just in front of you.
I passed two men fishing and asked what they had caught (one had a huge prawn bait on his hook) but nothing so far and of course I love to look back at the Thames Barrier, such an amazing feat of engineering.
I carried on walking along the path thinking that perhaps I might take the boat home and I thought I could be a tourist for the rest of the day. This was abruptly put to rest by a large hoarding with nowhere to go except back on my tracks and out onto the main road. This is often the case when developers build flats but don’t warn pedestrians or cyclists and you end up in a maze of hoarding . And you feel a bit trapped. And then I get to wondering how affordable these flats will be when you look at the plush marbled reception area at Mast Quay. The flats aren’t finished but the marketing suite is.
Not long ago I took my son’s dog with me for a trip through the Woolwich foot tunnel.
I had to take a photo of the Old Woolwich station for a book called 111 Places in Essex that You Shouldn’t Miss. I’m yet to learn why this was included in the book but nevertheless I wanted to take the photo I was commissioned to do. The lift was working and once in that tunnel I take a while to get through as I look at the endless photo opportunities! It’s much more difficult with an impatient cocker spaniel!
I love my job, it takes me to places I wouldn’t normally go to and going to Woolwich on public transport is the best way to take it all in, to realise there’s many different facets to the place.
Some of the things I have seen in the street:
woolwich wandering 