WELLHALL PLEASAUNCE, SE18
London Archive Chronicles
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I took this photograph in Well Hall Pleasaunce on route to the Queen Mary’s hospital last May as a part of the Lockdown Trails. I had walked from Greenwich across Blackheath to Lee Road, turned to Eltham Road, past endless rows of houses, when I heard a meow. It was a fluffy cat, saying hello to me. This at least was my interpretation of the meow. Was the cat as bored as I was walking down Eltham Hill when it sought my attention, rolling on the pavement, purring when I petted it? I took two photographs of it despite the harshness of the light. There was an odd sense of standstill. A few solitary cars and trucks drove past, the air hung heavily, the light was irritating, blinding. I kept walking and finally saw the spire of the Eltham Parish Church.
London is such a green, leafy city. As well as many notable parks such as Hyde Park, Regent’s Park and Greenwich Park, there are large woodland areas like Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest, semi-rural Richmond Park, and the vast Hackney Downs. Then there are small parks and other patches of greenery with benches dotted here and there, especially south of the river. To illustrate this fact, there are at least eight public parks within a 30 minute-walk from where I live, not counting Greenwich Park and the Blackheath. Many residential streets are also lined with trees which, once one notices it, is more of a rule than an exception. Well Hall Pleasaunce was a welcome relief from the weary dullness of the suburban roads. There are benches one can sit on, various flower arrangements and trees, a moated Tudor barn, as well as an Italian garden. The pleasaunce was opened in 1933 and restored in 2003 after Greenwich council successfully bid for the Heritage Lottery Fund. Sometimes walking through these kinds of places feels as if being in a fragile dream. Things appear to be ‘like’ this and ‘like’ that — ‘as if’ I was there, or ‘just like’ the twilight hour on that day. This scene of the cypresses around the pool in the Italian garden, the late afternoon air, and the gentle, translucent light, it all reminded me of the Levant and the Middle East where I have longed to travel for some time. It reminded me of the stories, ancient and new, I had read of the area. I remembered that had the year gone as I had foreseen, I would have been travelling in Georgia and Armenia in the Caucasus at that very time. I felt a tinge of guilt for how privileged I was having been able to make such travel plans as well as for being infatuated with such romantic notions of exploration and travel. At first, I thought that these cypresses must have been planted after the 1950’s as I found a photo taken of the pool taken towards the opposite direction and there were no trees in that image. Or so it appeared. After looking at the photograph more closely and comparing it to mine, I am not sure anymore. About a 15 minute-walk away from the tranquil of the Pleasaunce is the Stephen Lawrence Memorial Plaque, presumably at the same location where he was murdered in 1993. He was a black 19-year-old student who was attacked by a mob of white teenagers while waiting for a bus and stabbed to death. The attack was unprovoked and racially motivated. The case became known because of corruption and racism of the police. Five juveniles were arrested shortly after the attack but not charged due to lack of evidence. Two men were convicted only in 2012, 19 years after the murder, after a long battle by Doreen Lawrence, Stephen’s mom. The whole story is heart-breaking. I am at a loss for anything to say after reading about the scale of corruption and racism within the London police. It is nothing short of murky. Despite some progress having been made since, the case still resonates today, particularly in light of the government’s recent, controversial report of institutional racism in the UK. 22nd of April is the anniversary of Stephen Lawrence’s murder. I have added some links to the case below. One of them is not directly linked to this case but an interview of Patrick Hutchinson, the man in one of the photographs from the Black Lives Matter protest that defined the year 2020. The article disputes the claim that racism wouldn’t be an issue within the police forces today. Sore blisters had appeared on my right heel and toes. I had to admit to myself that I wouldn’t be able to continue on foot and would have to take the bus to the hospital and back home. The bus journey went past Avery Hill Park, another vast green public space. Queen Mary’s Hospital is also surrounded by greenery, undoubtedly enjoyed and needed by many. (originally published 22.04.2021) |
© Carita Silander
Image courtesy of Old Photos of Essex, Kent and London