Concrete nostalgia: Southmere estate, Thamesmead

Thamesmead's buildings might not be as instantly recognisable as the Trellick Tower or Robin Hood Gardens, but in the story of London's council housing this development is equally as important.

There's so much to say. Let's start at the beginning.

The idea of developing the area to the east of London's ports was first mooted by the Greater London Authority in the 1960s. It formed a team of architects, planners and engineers to come up with a plan to house 60,000 people in the area formerly occupied by the Royal Arsenal - riverside marshland with lots of abandoned buildings.

Here are two model shots of what they came up with.

Artifical lakes and recreational areas would be surrounded by low- and high-rise housing, schools, shops and health centres, all linked by pedestrian pathways at different levels. Walking was to be king.

The architects tried to design out problems that plagued many post-war estates - trying to encourage contact between neighbours.

Ground floor areas were generally left for garages as the former marshlands are susceptible to flooding.

A public poll voted for the name Thamesmead.

Roads were planned too, including a new river crossing and an east/west route linking the new town with Woolwich and Erith.

The first phase of housing was finished in 1968 when the Gooch family became the first to move in.

In an interview with the BBC Terry Gooch said: "The GLC approached us when we lived in Peckham and they said they were looking for people to start this now town. They then came back, having checked our credentials... and said we were the ideal couple to actually come down here."

Like Gooch said, it wasn't easy to get a home in Thamesmead. There were strict conditions and so for the first decade of its existence, the area was home to a largely white, middle-class population.

Unfortunately the original vision for the area, which included an international yacht harbour, transport infrastructure and further phases of housing and commercial space, was slowly abandoned throughout the 1970s. This was mainly due to economic reasons. Construction costs exceeded those estimated, and at the same time a recession came pushing further development to the back of the political agenda.

In the end only the Southmere area was properly completed and by the end of the decade it had become a sink-estate. A place where local councils sent trouble families and individuals and new immigrants desperate for housing.

Things quickly deteriorated. The walkways became unwalkable. The lake became unswimmable. The lifts became unrideable. Thamesmead had become another post-war housing failure.

Fast-forward to summer 2013. A sunny day in Thamesmead, what is it like today?

We arrived at the northern end of the Southmere estate, on the eastern edge of the lake.

Some of the homes are still occupied.

We walked through the first-level walkways...

...and ended up by the lake right where that famous scene from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange was filmed!

You can see the buildings in the background are now covered in scaffolding, as is much of the housing on the southern end of the lake.

Then we came across a horse.

Next it was up to the emptied shops at Tavy Bridge.

You might recognise this from the Aphex Twin video Come to Daddy (viewer discretion - it's freaky). 

Anyway, this whole area is currently being redeveloped. More housing is planned. Although, it doesn't look like things are moving quickly.

We walked around some more. It's fun exploring here.

There are so many strange and wonderful views to see, like in the picture above. Every home has been completely personalised.

Finally, we walked around the lake to get a better view of the tower blocks. And we saw some more horses.

After we left the estate we walked back down to the Thames and up to Crossness sewage works. Then back to pick up our bikes and cycled home.

Want to visit Thamesmead?

We cycled there on a sunny Sunday from Columbia Road. It's about 12 miles away, but all flat. We went via Excel and the Woolwich (Free!) Ferry, then along the Thames Path. On the way back we cycled as far as Greenwich, crossed the river via the foot tunnel, and cycled back home via Wapping where we had a well deserved meal at The Narrow. 

By train it's best to go to Abbey Wood from London Bridge.

Want to know more?

There's an excellent video here made by the London Metropolitan Archive about the planning and construction of Thamesmead.

Here is a somewhat bizzare (but very sweet) video about a semi-fictional teenage couple falling in love at Thamesmead. It's called Living in Thamesmead and was also made by the LMA.

Want to see more?

Watch the famous scene from A Clockwork Orange here.

Thamesmead was also the backdrop for the 1996 film Beautiful Thing. A coming of age drama about two gay teenagers. 

And Misfits was partly filmed there. 

Photos

All photos are by me except for the model/construction shots taken as stills from the London Metropolitan Archive video. The black and white photograph is from bdonline.co.uk.