A Walking Tour around Woolwich Arsenal

Earlier this summer I went on an excellent tour of Woolwich Arsenal led by my friend Laurence Scales.

Laurence is interested in machines and the military, especially things that go "bang" and so is the perfect guide for this kind of walk.
I find Woolwich to be a strange place, by which I mean in the planning sense, in the same way that I find Portsmouth a bit of a mess with its three distinct yet unlinked and unrelated zones. Both towns have strong links to our Naval past and both seem to have suffered over the years not just from neglect but from planning departments who don't seem to have a clue how to integrate and relate the history to the people who live there or what we need today – they just sling up another shopping arcade.
I wonder what percentage of Woolwich 's residents actually visit the old Arsenal site because the town clearly has two different zones, just a stone's throw apart, separated by one strip of tarmac (Beresford Street) – one side is all shops and markets and old cinemas with architectural hints of a bustling and prosperous past, and the other side, the Thames side, seems like a polished up homogenised version of history as if the machines just stopped working one day and overnight the buildings were gutted and cleansed and converted into [luxury?!] flats surrounded by manicured lawns, and commissioned art. For me, the arsenal side has an eerie feeling. Mind you, I'd love an address that was in No.1 Street.

Moving on... near the old covered market facing The Thames on the shopping side of the main road I spotted some fab old hand-painted signs for a long-gone music shop:

Regaee? Nice try!

More Woolwich observations from 2013

Bosworth and Naseby join Harold in Highbury

Three houses in Elwood Street, near Arsenal's old Highbury ground, have some intriguing embellishments on them.

They have shields and faces of knights around the doors. And above the square bay windows are the names NASEBY, BOSWORTH and HAROLD.

The cartouche between the doors reads FCH which may be the initials of the developer who constructed these three properties

Note the castellations along the roof edges (pic from Google streeview)

I can only assume that the developer at the time (late Victorian?) was a history buff. Perhaps he was trying to commemorate some of England's most famous battles, but why show the locations of Naseby and Bosworth yet not have  Hastings/Battle on the last one rather than the name of the king who died there?
Or, perhaps, considering the house on the left has access to the rear, this could have been a builders' merchant where you could buy fancy add-ons and this was the company's visual catalogue...? This might suggest that you could commission something bespoke. 
Any ideas anyone? 

Christmas Lights Switch On – Fonthill Road, Finsbury Park – Thursday 1st December

I hope this event will be as colourful as the poster. This area just behind Finsbury Park Station has been gradually upping its game these past few years with lots of yummy food places, funky second hand clothes, art galleries and, of course those great wig shops in Stroud Green Road.
This one-day event will take place in Fonthill Road starting at 2.30pm and ending at 7pm. I will have a stall there selling my cards and prints and these will include Islington, Haringey, Arsenal and Hornsey Baths images, plus my Christmas adaptations.  
More info here.

Three samples from the Arsenal range

Many more stripey collections available

On the following day, Friday 2nd December, there will be a small lighting-up event aimed mainly at children up at Archway Mall, 3.30–5.15pm (no stalls) followed next weekend by Caledonian Road's event on Saturday 10th Dec from 11am–5pm – another colourful street festival organised by #TheCallyMarket  (I will be trading at this one too).
Despite living just around the corner from the Hags Head Shopping Centre and junction in Holloway, I am not aware if Islington Council will be organising their yearly Christmas Extravaganza – an overblown name for a rather low-key and under-publicised event. Your guess is as good as mine.

You can wash your hands

I live near the Emirates Stadium, home to Arsenal football club.
It means nothing to me except that I sometimes have to change my journey if I need to use the public transport on a match day due to the restrictive in/out at the tube station when a game starts and finishes or the slow traffic on the roads. Oh, and some of the supporters invade my local pub. But at least they have good taste.
One good thing about the stadium is the facilitates an easy cut through when walking from Holloway to Blackstock Road via Drayton Park and Gillespie Road. and it's rather nice wandering around the stadium when there is no one else there.

When I was doing just that recently I noticed how a glimpse of old houses in Drayton Park formed part of a mini quilt pattern in amongst the contemporary architecture so I took a photo. Turning into Gillespie Road the tube station was like a jewel against the bright blue winter sky.
Back in August 2009 I took a wander around the stadium. Below are some of the shots from that day.

I have only ever been inside the stadium once, and that was for a Bruce Springsteen gig. Dave, my then boyfriend was, and still is, a big fan of The Boss and had bought us overpriced tickets to see him at the Emirates. Stadiums are so not my choice of venue for live music and he knew that. So I have no idea why he bought me a ticket to see someone I vaguely like at a huge impersonal venue, bet, hey, that's another story.
So there I stood with Dave and his friends in the middle of the plastic covered pitch, craning to see something. The sound was dreadful; muffled. The view was hindered because I couldn't see over the heads in front of me and the live film feed was being shown on the screens that sat on the stage rather than the ones up high (eh?!) and Bruce and co were wearing black against a black backdrop. Add to that the beer choice was piss lager or crap lager.
So I left about half way through and walked 5 minutes to the pub where I could hear it clearer and sup on a pint of something no-gassy.
As I was making my exit the security man on the door asked why I was leaving. I said because of the poor saound. he said many people had complained the night before. Oh gawd.