getting to know the people, places and spaces one walk (and rest) at a time
Kate
“Before I moved to London I thought everywhere was near the river. Of course it isn’t! But it became important to me to live within walking distance. That is why the city is here after all. I also thought most of London would be like in ‘Only Fools and Horses’. A friend from Cape Verde thought London would be like in ‘Yes, Minister’ with polite manners and suits. I think he might have been more disappointed than me.”
Kate, a woman in her 30s, is originally from Cardiff, Wales and came to live in Woolwich via Lancaster, Swansea and Manchester. She was the first person to complete a photo journal for the project.
Kate completed her photo journal using WhatsApp, sending photos and comments over seven days. This is included chronologically below.
Map & walking route: Kate also designed a walking route from Woolwich Common, past the St Georges Garrison Church on Grand Depot Road, continuing down John Wilson Street to the two impressive, old cinema buildings (now churches), through the Woolwich Foot Tunnel to North Woolwich where she highlights the interesting graffiti and opportunity for mud larking along Pier Road, then hopping on the Woolwich Ferry back to the South side of the River Thames.
Kate’s Journal
03/03/2021, Woolwich Wanders day 1, 3rd March.
I’ve worked all of the pandemic. During lockdown from home. One blessing has been replacing my commute with a morning walk. I like a circuit of the officer houses at the barracks, and a bit of the Common. 3k steps in 30 mins. I’ve become obsessed with walking 10k steps a day. During lockdown I’ve not been able to travel. So I’ve been bolder exploring. The barracks would have felt out of bounds before. But now it’s part of my home.
03/03/2021
The paddock for the Army horses. I love seeing them. Saw nothing but fog today 😂
03/03/2021
I only got to know Woolwich Common during lockdown. I ignored it before. It turns out it’s full of wildlife. In summer it’s saturated with colour. In Winter muted and calm. It’s a resilient space. Survived illegal camping, fly tipping, fires. Like much of Woolwich it’s scarred but beautiful
03/03/2021
This is at the end of my morning walk. I remember seeing this building before I moved to the area. It was derelict then. It took my breath away.
03/03/2021
A quick evening walk. The estate behind the hospital. Someone has created their own lockdown pursuits. I like how people have become more creative. Shared space and green space – breathing space – has become more appreciated.
03/03/2021
A gap in the fence – you can enter Hornfair Park from the estate. Even though you are near the road it feels quieter. The grass deadens the noise. And I like walking at night. It feels anonymous.
03/03/2021
I love the roofs and the chimney stacks. Something romantic about them. One of the reasons I wanted to live in my street were all the different houses. The different layers of stories. It seeps into the character of the road. Anyway good night!
04/03/2021. Walk no 2, 4 March.
I love this public mosaic in Woolwich. It’s in the underpass leading to Brook Hill Road. Most mosaics are of friendly flowers and sunshine. I presumed this was too. Given the colours. But when you actually look. It has blatant religious overtones of retribution and bloody violence. The angels seem to have two sets of legs. All the better to kick your soul into shape. And that green skinned fellow is being kicked into hell for sure. As for the animal massacre. Is this just my interpretation? 🤣 Public art should be more than flowers though
04/03/2021
This tag is on a telephone exchange in Woolwich. Just by the old council offices that were demolished. They are still rubble. I love the way the tag ran. I don’t know if it’s deliberate but I love it. My old house mate used to work in the old council offices. She worked in child protection. She left to go back home to Australia when she was pregnant. Years ago. Her boy has autism and she’s so proud of the clever, kind young man he has become. I think if her every time I walk past the rubble.
04/03/2021
A quick walk with my neighbours dogs in the evening. They are rescue dogs from Turkey. This photo is of them at their most still. The prospect of fine smells and squirrels is too exciting to bear. Walking with dogs is so different to walking without. It’s social but not mindful. I only notice the things they want to scratch and chase and and sniff. I couldn’t tell you much else about the walk. But they are beautiful pup dogs. In Dalaman they might leave their cage once a week. So for them a twice daily walk is heaven. They accept kisses freely and insist on checking out all the other dogs in Woolwich
04/03/2021, 21:51 – Lizzie: Loved reading these thank you. What a rich photo journal and walking route visual map. I walked past that mosaic on Tuesday…I hadn’t looked as closely as you when I took my photos. Thank you for your insight. The tags…I see them everywhere and have no idea what they mean. Territory, art, come closer or stay away? Or something else? And the common…full of surprises! Until tomorrow.
05/03/2021, Hey. Day 3, 5th March.
Tagging and graffiti is so interesting. I agree it’s about territory. I see a lot on street signs. Maybe less come here or go away and more ‘look at me – I exist’.
05/03/2021
Fork off? I love a typo and a hand painted sign. There are loads of boarded up garages on this estate. A lady was saying that the garages are too small for modern cars. Instead they are used for storage. Some people break in and use them. Others own them.
05/03/2021
There’s a mindfulness exercise you can do where you just look for appealing textures on your daily walk. A peeling garage door can look like a Clyfford Still or a Mark Rothko. 🤣 I wander round now with a genuine interest in garages, fences and old wooden doors. I like that in Woolwich you can take an interest in this kind of thing and largely be left alone. And there are so many dots of bright colour when you start to look.
05/03/2021
I like how the home owner has made their house beautiful. It’s the kind of place you’d expect to see at the seaside or in the suburbs.
05/03/2021
These bricks have been removed very neatly. I’d never wandered through this estate before. It was pretty quiet
05/03/2021
These shops are all opposite the Royal Arsenal development. It’s the two halves of Woolwich on one street. These shops (to me) aren’t beautiful but they are interesting. It’s quiet enough in lockdown that you can stop and look at them. The guy dancing round a lamppost. The old record signs(?) above the photography store. And I find the tv repair shop appealing. People don’t really repair tv’s any more.
05/03/2021
Just a straight walk into Woolwich and back. But with a quick detour home onto the Common. There’s enough space to see the sky properly. This little patch of blue 💙 Good enough for Turner I reckon. Night!
06/03/2021
There’s a bit of the barracks that has buildings to the right and the left but dead on it feels like the countryside. And the land dips down a little so it always feels quieter and calmer.
Walk 4, 6th March. 06/03/2021
I never noticed these lions on Frances Street before. Handsome fellows.
06/03/2021
The lines on these flats are beautiful.
06/03/2021
Love this neat shop. I wouldn’t want to live in a place that didn’t have a corner shop. It means people will be walking the area. Popping in. Wandering about. I couldn’t live somewhere like America where you have to drive everywhere.
06/03/2021
This is the first time I’ve seen the mosaic at Kingsman Parade up close. Normally I just see it going past on the bus. It’s gorgeous though. Solid chunky tiles. Rich colours.
06/03/2021
Love the beautiful silks. Sikh prayer shawls maybe? Overlooking the river by St Mary Magdalene Church.
06/03/2021
The grave of World Champion boxer – Tom Cribb. I think he was very famous in his time. He fought a boxer with the amazing name – Ikey Pig. Which is very Dickensian.
06/03/2021
And nearby Tom’s Lion, an elephant. Safari in Woolwich. But only if you know where to look 😂😍
06/03/2021
I see this so many times. It’s right by the train station. A man and a van advertised on a bicycle. Ha! Tired feet today. Night!
Day 5, 7th March. 07/03/2021
This is one of those elastic walks that is more Plumstead than pure Woolwich. There is a local wood owned by the council. Some neighbours and I are setting up a CIC to run it and open the land up to forest schools and the community. It’s a different kind of walk. Looking at the wood and seeing any changes. Although surrounded by houses and the college it is so peaceful. Time slows down. I like that walking here is more physical. Climbing over fallen trees and twisted roots. I have to concentrate more on the physicality of it.
07/03/2021
We keep bees here. I am not the best beekeeper. But the honey tastes amazing. And I love that it tastes of all the gardens and the woods and the common – all the spaces that I walk through. The honey tastes slightly citrusy. Urban honey tastes more complex because the foraging is wider. When I see a honeybee I do wonder if it’s one of mine. They fly up to five miles. It would cover all of Woolwich easily.
07/03/2021
The bees push any dead ones out of the hive. For hygiene. A lot die over the winter. Being in the wood slows everything down.
07/03/2021
And a walk to the pond. There are lots of new fox holes. And a couple of ducks. I’ve also heard (but not seen) woodpeckers and an owl. Just like the common. There is so much wildlife
07/03/2021
Beautiful moss. Apparently humans can distinguish more shades in green than of any other colour.
07/03/2021
Lovely low light. Thinking of my dinner now. So off home. Night!
Day 6, 08/03/2021
8th March a long day today and so only got to have a short walk. I felt a bit resentful about that! I love the common at night though. The mix of street lights and the moon makes for great effects.
08/03/2021
Shadows from the cars.
08/03/2021
This is a memorial on the edge of Woolwich Common. An 18 year old man was stabbed to death. Almost a year ago. I’d spent the day with friends (a craft session and lunch in east London). I remember getting off the bus early because I hadn’t got my 10k steps in. And I then noticed an air ambulance attending. It happened 8 days before the first national lockdown..We’d spent most of the day talking about what might happen. And we laughed at a lady wearing a scarf around her face in a local cafe. It seemed over the top. Little did we know. Anyway the memorial is kept beautifully. But his death and lockdown are sort of intertwined in my head.
08/03/2021
Estate just off the common
08/03/2021
What happened to my legs! Haha! Anyway night!
09/03/2021, 11:37 – Lizzie: Kate i really look forward to receiving your pictures and commentary. The contrast of urban textures, concrete sky line and green spaces. Your memories and stories. Really look forward to chatting further. Lizzie 🙂 09/03/2021, Thank you. I love doing them. 🙏😀🤓
Day 7 09/03/2021, IMG-20210309-WA0003.jpg (file attached)
9th March last day. Had to be a walk to the Woolwich riviera! Before I moved to London I thought everywhere was near the river. Of course it isn’t! But it became important to me to live within walking distance. That is why the city is here after all. I also thought most of London would be like in Only Fools and Horses. A friend from Cape Verde thought London would be like in Yes, Minster with polite manners and suits. I think he might have been more disappointed than me. 😂
The river is always so peaceful and soothing to me. I’ve rowed and kayaked on it a couple of times. It’s at the heart of the city yet somehow secret too. Paddling on the Thames feels like a stealthy way to travel.
One of the hotels. I am still surprised that Woolwich has two big name hotels. I wouldn’t think people would stay here. I am obviously wrong! You can just make out the plough. Have so enjoyed the photo diary. Next step the map. Night!
11/03/2021, 19:12 – Lizzie: Really excited for your Map kate! Would you like me to post some a3 paper through your letter box? 11/03/2021, 19:12 – Lizzie: I can drop it in tomorrow afternoon after 3 11/03/2021, 19:56 – Kate Topham: Hey. Don’t worry. I can cobble something together with what I have in the house. Thanks though! 😀 12/03/2021, 09:02 – Lizzie: Just a quick little note to say thinking of all you wanderers in light of the news about Sarah’s case. A gentle reminder to look after yourselves when you are walking. And if you don’t feel like walking at the moment, don’t. The project can wait. We have to rally together to fight for safer streets. Lizzie x 12/03/2021, Thanks Lizzie. X 13/03/2021, IMG-20210313-WA0003.jpg (file attached) Hey. Have finished the map. I enjoyed doing it. Some of the sketches look like they were completed by an enthusiastic 10 yr old 😂 There aren’t any actual map directions (just verbal). So let me know if I need to add anything. 🙏 15/03/2021, 16:44 – Lizzie: Well this looks very exciting indeed!
woolwich wandering 