East Greenwich is to get a “wall of stories” that will tell the tale of a part of the borough that is industrial, gritty and occasionally, world-beating. A nearly 15ft tall graphic artwork will transform the main wall of the Angerstein flyover, taking it from dreary slab of grey concrete to a representation of the area through time. RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL explains more…
The mural, to be commissioned by the Aldeburgh & Fearon Streets Neighbourhood Watch with a grant from Greenwich Council, will showcase the energy and creativity of East Greenwich. The area was home to the first transatlantic cable, the “internet” of the 19th century, as well as factories that built iconic elements of British industrial power including the propellers for the legendary ocean liner, the Queen Mary.
There is a long list of significant places, people and events particular to the area that could be represented in the proposed mural and residents are already sending in their ideas.
The mural could feature iconic and instantly recognisable buildings in East Greenwich and the Peninsula. The O2, one of Europe’s largest and busiest indoor entertainment venues, started life as a national project to mark the new millennium.
The 225-year-old Pilot Inn is the oldest surviving building in the area. Enderby House is named after the family that owned Britain’s largest whaling fleet. The Enderbys were so famous in the Victorian era they feature in the 1851 American epic novel Moby Dick. The Valley, Charlton Athletic’s home, was once one of England’s largest football grounds.
Long-gone structures might deserve a place too because of their importance to the area. The famous gas works, built in the 19th century, were once Europe’s largest. Dutch windmills were used in the 1300s to drain the marsh, which is the area around today’s Ikea, the Odeon complex and beyond.
The artwork will have to choose from a number of prominent people who once walked the streets of East Greenwich (or rode in their stately carriages). These include businessman John Julius Angerstein, whose art collection laid the foundation for the National Gallery, and who served as an early patron of the famous painter J M W Turner. Angerstein’s estate was in what is now known as Westcombe Park and the family name is kept alive with a street, a pub and the very flyover that will soon become a curated storyboard of sorts for East Greenwich.
Then there is the little-known connection between East Greenwich and Geoffrey Chaucer, mediaeval England’s greatest poet. Chaucer, whose day job was that of civil servant in the king’s chancery or records office, served as witness in the sale of various properties in the area. In April 1396, the sale of “4 acres, 3 roods, and 13 perches of land bordered by ditches in ‘Hornemersshe’ in the parish of Estgrenewyche”.
Today, Hornemersshe is known as Horn Lane, a side road remarkable only for its multiple supersized establishments, including the Royal Mail sorting office, the east Asian grocer Tazaki and the Shurgard self-storage facility.
Among the clutch of living people who might be considered for inclusion in the mural is musician Jools Holland, who used to frequent a café near the flyover, and still has a studio in the Westcombe Park area. Some Charlton footballers also come to mind.
The Aldeburgh & Fearon Streets Neighbourhood Watch believes this is a potentially transformative project. It could even be the aesthetic focal point for a signposted industrial heritage trail around the Peninsula and East Greenwich, telling stories of pirates, visionaries, and the working men and women who have made this place special for hundreds of years.
But first, what three words say “East Greenwich” to you?
If you live or work in East Greenwich or the Peninsula, or even just pass by Angerstein Flyover, please take a minute to fill out this brief form and tell us the three words that come to mind when you think of this area.
Rashmee Roshan Lall is coordinator of the Aldeburgh & Fearon Streets Neighbourhood Watch
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