John Heron sent me these great pictures of the ongoing demolition of Beaumont Estate. John lives on the continent and I live about half-a-mile away from the estate, but I tend to content myself with the view from my bathroom window.With the Iain Sinclair edited 'London, City of Disappearances' fresh on the shelves, people are busy flagging up the disappearing treasures of the metropolis. Among some of the endangered sites mentioned in Time Out recently were the Butterfly House (where there is a screening this Saturday of films on the theme of the book, including John Smith's 'Blight' about the disappearance of half of Colville Road E11), The Stables Market in Camden, and Hackney Wick allotments (which may be moved to Marsh Lane Playing Fields meaning the disappearance of over a 1000 years of common land rights). Nowhere did I see a mention of Beaumont Estate.
Thanks for the pictures John.
4 comments:
Thanks for giving a good home to these photos, John. As I mentioned to you, they were taken on a disposable 'fun' camera - out of necessity, not any lo-fi artiness - but, having said that, getting a bit conceptual and making an association between the disposability of the camera and the ephemeral nature of such local authority slabs is hard to resist.
The Beaumont Estate webcam seems to have packed up, with the view over the E10 badlands frozen in grey pixellated time.
My photographic record of this autumnal pilgrimage (40+ snaps, some with partial thumb) will be shut away in a metal filing cabinet, awaiting rediscovery by future seekers of lost London skyline trig points. Or more likely, it will be thrown in a skip.
I feel sad about the projected changes to the badlands around the Brent Cross Regional Shopping Centre. The aim is to turn the zone into a consumers' paradise complete with railway station, street furniture and help-points. Danger will be eradicated at all costs. Meanwhile, the disused carpark to the west of the shopping centre, where saxifrage comingles with japaneses knotweed and herons fish in the brent,will undoubtedly be converted into...a carpark again. I love the wastelands around the Brent Cross, with its little streams flowing into the mother-river from Childs Hill (The Clutterbrook) and from off the Hendon Massif via old Gutter Hedge Farm. Its not "Old" in any sense of the word - most of the landscape dates from the 1930s onwards - but it is off the map (try walking to the shopping centre and see) and "outside" any type of cultural saturation. Usually I'd try not to draw attention to such a place - its unaknowledged status is its very source of power - but will do so here, before it is too late. Good day Sir and keep up the good work.
For me its the loss of the lower end of Clay Lane, Edgware, given over to some hideous housing estate called Broadfields. An eerie hedge-wrapped lane hundreds of years old disappears beneath mean red roof dwellings just like that. Upset? I am. In fact it all happened in 1934 and I'm still cut up about it
Found these great pictures on your blog, and wondered if you might talk to us about an exhibition called Across the Divide, an opportunity for local residents to share their experiences of living on the estate since 1939. If you are interested please contact info@booneschapel.co.uk.
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