Sofia, originally from Galati, Romania came to be in Woolwich via Hackney, Finsbury Park, Wood Green, Tottenham, Angel, Archway, Battersea and Camberwell. She completed a hand written journal with some photos, and drew a map of some of her favourite places in the area. Sofia, in her words, is in many ways a living example social mobility. From modest beginnings in Romania, she moved to London aged 18 to study at university, full of dreams but unable to afford a coffee with her university colleagues because it would mean less food for the week. Now she acknowledges her now more privileged position having worked and saved to buy her first home in Woolwich, which she describes as ‘the biggest achievement of her life’. Sofia is a big fan of Woolwich, thankful to live near the river which provides a sensorial connection to the River Danube in her home town.
Here is Sofia’s hand drawn map.
And her journal (transcribed).
15 March 2021
Hello
I’ll start by telling you a bit about myself and my relationship with Woolwich
I moved to London on my own age 19 to study international politics at City University. I knew no one here and since I couldn’t afford to go live in student halls I ended up renting a room in Hackney Central’s Pembury Estate. To me it looked grandiose – beautiful brick blocks with chimney tops, resembling castles. Perhaps because back home in Romania the block of flats look more like prisons. Even though my bus taking me to uni was almost weekly on diversion because of street crime, I loved that place which for me was home. I have particularly fond memorised of discovering Percy Ingle, the family-owned bakery in east London and their bag of ring doughnuts for £1.
To cut a long story short, since then I moved around London 8 times. And I mean around!
Hackney, Finsbury Park, Wood Green, Tottenham, Angel, Archway, Battersea, Camberwell – Until I felt it’s time for me to get on the property ladder and settle somewhere. I’d never come to Woolwich until the day of my first viewing, which I knew was a bit risky. But by then I felt I knew London well enough, so I kinda had an idea of what to expect. I knew I didn’t want to be in those brand new places, artificially created almost (like Royal Docks). So when I got out of the station here I got the same hackney central feeling. The high street (Powis Street) had the same vibe, same people, even a Percy Ingle bakery! So this richness, this existing fabric of Woolwich is what made it feel like home for me. And so close to the Thames, I couldn’t believe my luck.
I’ve just had my 3rd anniversary for my flat and even though I knew a lot about the local area before the pandemic kicked off, there was still more for me to discover in the past year. I’m very grateful to live in such a rich and wonderful place that’s constantly changing and keeps on giving. I’m looking forward to what the future developments will bring and bring part of that change.
16 March 2021
Today its all about the river. Our very own tidal Thames.
I was also planning to write about it anyway, but also something lovely happened last night that’s worth sharing. Towards the end of the day my friend Sabrina called me; she was on her way home on the 161 bus from work. She recently moved in the Woolwich Dockyard area, mostly because its closer to her work – so I’m trying to tell her about the lovely features in our area; she doesn’t know much about it for now. So we decided to meet for an impromptu walk. I came down from my flat and she got off by Tesco. We popped into M&S and got some eclairs for snacking and then walked a bit on the Thames path, witnessing the gorgeous sunset. How lovely was that just one of the reasons why I believe that the Thames path is such an asset for us Londoners and especially to the lucky ones that live nearby.
My hometown Galati is the largest port on the Danube and I grew up in a block of flats that’s just by the river bank. Obviously, that’s something I was taking for granted back then! And only later on I became aware of it, of my connection to the river.
I’ll never forget the moment I truly connected to the Thames, same as I used to back home. I was walking around Central London with a uni friend in my first year. From St Pauls we started to walk towards the river and once we got there I saw there were steps to go down, it was low tide. So I did. And that moment felt like everything stood still. I was just me and the river. I could smell it. That murky smell, not so pleasant – but oh how it reminded me of my Danube. And that’s it, that’s how I knew I can call London home because I had the Thames river now.
The years when I lived in Battersea were amazing because I was walking along the Thames path so much it was so close to me, just a few minutes away. When I started to look for a place to buy, I had so many restrictions because of my budget/income, that it never even crossed my mind to consider a place next to the river, given the high premium! So you can imaging how excited I got when I saw this flat, 5 minutes away from the river, that I could actually afford.
I’ve definitely been making the most, even before the lockdowns. Have been going East and West, I have my favourite spots where I am almost guaranteed to see swans, I forage blackberries when in seasons, I cycle and roller-skate, I take the Thames Clipper when its sunny to treat myself to a nice commute into work, and the list goes on. I even have a wall clock that tells me the high and low tides.
Its also such a big part of what makes Woolwich even though now we no longer see the stretch of dockyards and ships as this industry has almost died. People who are not familiar to the area always clock when they hear the Woolwich ferry! I am yet to try it myself. Oh and I absolutely love the foot tunnel, even though there’s not much on the other side – but the idea that you’re walking under the river – so fascinating!
Woolwich common
I still can’t believe it took me so long to explore this properly. I’ve been going to Oxleas Woods since before moving here, but always just going past the common and not thinking much of it.
May be because the open bit towards HaHa Road doesn’t seem like much – just a plain field, most likely windy. I thought that was it. Then there was a knife crime in the common so it put me off again. But during lockdown I went round, deciding to explore. And oh my, it felt like Christmas!
It completely exceeded ay expectations (not that I had many), I ended up walking on that day up and down on almost every path I could find. It felt magical. And the best thing is that now, more that a year since my discovery, I still feel that magical feeling. I feel we are so blessed to have it, just on our doorstep. This green oasis. You might just occasionally hear the ambulances but apart from that, it feels like I’m no longer in the city when I’m there. A wonderful immersive feeling.
I also love that a full loop makes about 4.5km of walk, which I think is a good distance for my daily walk in London. I’ve been going there even during the miserable winter days, lured myself with a coffee in a thermal mug. So some rain, come shine, I know the common is there, waiting. What a beautiful back garden for us all.
Oxleas woods
I write today about the woods even though I’m not going there and actually I haven’t been there for a while.
Where shall I start? Its so close, still I can’t believe that when I come out of my flat, if I turn right I reach the river and if I turn left I reach the forest, walking distance! Oh granted its quite a walk given the few steep hills I need to take to get there, but its so worth it. Sandy Hill and Eglington Hill are the ones.
I read about it and came to visit while waiting for completion of my flat. It was a beautiful summer day and I fell in love from then. Loved the Severndroog Castle, its history, current situation, unbeatable views from the top, lovely café. And of course the rest; hidden flower gardens, spring bluebells, fallen trees. I already feel like I want to go there soon, just thinking about all of this.
My mum absolutely loved it too, took her there twice already when she came to visit. I also go cycling around there with my boyfriend. I will never forget the nights when I went there for the Woolwich Film Festival, 2 years in a row. First year was a success, all seats were taken, got a bit chilly. Second year I anticipated it so got there earlier with blankets to keep my friend and I warm. Magical. And again so blessed to remember that this is where I live, where I call home. It means so much, hence why I keep mentioning it everyone, especially neighbours.
Military past and regeneration
I think everyone would agree with the fact that this place has been though a lot of change. Given in the past few years I have been here I started to notice; and I must say I am very excited by all the changes to come!
To begin with, this entire area was owned by the MOD (or whatever they used to be called back in the day). Hence why we still have places such as Shooters Hill or General Gordon’s Square. Almost the entire military artillery was made here, incredible. Of course, the river had a big role to play as well, with massive dockyards. I look out the window onto Connaught Mews (ex-military hospital, now residential). I walk up and see St Georges Garrison Church ruins, now protected. The sunsets by the Royal Arsenal Barracks are stunning.
And continuing the walk to the Kings Troop Horse Artillery – lots of horse poop on the pavement and roads! Into the common and coming out onto the other side you see the beautiful Academy enclosure (now residential) and Royal Garrison Church of St Michael and All Angels. Stunning. That’s just a one-hour walk, as a loop, which I’ve done many times in the past year. This is definitely less known by people, because everyone tends to assume the military presence was just along the river.
I think this is because of the great impact and publicity there was back when Royal Arsenal was taken over by Berkeley Homes. In my opinion this particular redevelopment was done very considerately. I enjoy walking around there (it feels very safe) and taking in the mix of architecture – old and new. There is plenty of information available on plaques and boards to read about this history; and more importantly, the myriad of cannons! All sizes, ages, colours you can possibly imaging. Each building, each cannon, seem to have a story.
I particularly enjoyed the Council’s campaign of taking over the construction hoardings with pictures and stories of local people who currently make Woolwich.
And speaking of hoarding…that’s to make room for Woolwich Works. A new creative district for London, on my doorstep. Can’t wait for the risk to be ready so that the resident artistic companies can move in and start animating it.
There are other types of redevelopments though, and perhaps not as compassionate as the Royal Arsenal. One of them is at Trinity Walk. It’s a new build, but because it demolished a previous estate completely. I guess it wasn’t very good looking, but it feels like a bit change to the area and not to mention all the families that called it home. I don’t think they’ve been rehomed here. The same is happening over in Woolwich Dockyard, the old is being demolished and something new to come.
I don’t feel at peace with the fact that I am part of this change. Is this good change? Only time will tell.
I’ve been thinking about it and whilst the feeling of guilt is still there (because I’m one of those people who moved into a new build, thus enabling the displacement of the previous residents), I’m also very proud of what I achieved. I certainly can’t speak on behalf of all my neighbours whose circumstances I don’t know, but for me this is the biggest achievement in my life. I grew up in very modest surroundings in Romania, moved here as an 18 year old: full of dreams, but unable to afford a coffee with uni colleagues because that would mean less food for the week. I’ve been working throughout and I managed to get this home of mine entirely from my savings. So in many ways I am a living example of social mobility; I recognise that I’m now in a privileged position compared to many others but I’d like to think this is London. The opportunities are there for most of us.
Perhaps a bit off topic, an example for “opportunities are there” is from the second lockdown we had in the winter, when one of my neighbours who has been living here for 2-3 years a well, asked on the group where else could they go for a run apart from the Thames path and the common. It shocked me a little, I could not possibly imagine living in a place for that long and not knowing its surroundings! Especially when the world is shut down. But maybe it’s me and my inquisitive nature, maybe it’s why I was keen to be involved in your project and others?
I’ll have a think for public sharing ideas… they all sound good but as always, my ongoing thing is about having the right audiences in mind. Would these resources be there for “the converted” who are already explorers of the area. Or for those who never thought of exploring/not for them/ harder to reach.
Social prescribing might be a good link, tools for helping people connect with their place?
I think that’s it for now.
© Sofia Alexandrache / Lizzie Fort / part of Woolwich Wandering, 2022
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