Great walk, I do this down to the Barrier quite often. I think all these new developments look so alike and soulless places myself. Wind canyons abound.
Another excellent video John. As a Greenwich resident I have seen the peninsula change beyond belief in the last 25 years. Small bit of trivia, the row of houses next to The Pilot pub was where Blur filmed the Parklife video.
I was wondering if you know why just those row of houses and The Pilot pub are all still as was, when every else around them has been completely redeveloped? How have they escaped the redevelopment schemes? I am very pleased they have, but am curious, how? I don’t live in Greenwich, but have visited and walked the area for many years, the changes I’ve seen is unbelievable. Each time I visit it becomes more and more unrecognisable to the old peninsula I use to know. I use to love the vastness of it.. now it feels like where I live in London, very hemmed in. Such a shame.
Hi John, a very interesting video. The buildings remind me of photos and videos of “tall” buildings in Vietnam. I like the colourful panels on the balconies. Good wildlife. The buildings with drab grey panels are a bit depressing. I’m going to watch this video again
This is my favourite channel on the internet, I came across your channel a couple of months ago, and now look forward to your videos every Sunday, great narration, great voice, your timing and your cadence is perfect👍🏾I've now gone from watching these on my laptop to my 55inch with popcorn lol. You're like the David Attenborough of psychogeography.
I concur... started on my laptop, now watching this on my 55" but with a keurig coffee in hand. This channel and good 'ol Joolz Guides truly make my day and make me miss London dearly.
Maybe as the area has a lot of nautical history, Reminder Lane may be named after the Thames barge 'Reminder' if you google it The National Historic Ships UK website has loads of info and pictures of this beautiful ship: 'Legend has it that in the 1928 Thames Barge Match, Fred Horlock promised his victorious rivals that he would give them a ‘reminder’ of the speed of his barges. In the following year, 1929, REMINDER was launched from the F W Horlock yard in Mistley, Essex, for F W Horlock’s own fleet. She fulfilled Fred Horlock’s expectations, becoming champion barge in her class in both the Thames and Medway matches in her first year'. I may be completely wrong, but I hope not, it would be a great origin for the street name. Thanks again John for a brilliant and insightful video
Great walk John, the cut out ship is called "A Slice Of Reality" by artist Richard Wilson commissioned by the Mellennium Dome it a slice of the former Dredger "arco trent"
The section of container ship is an artwork by the artist Richard Wilson. I went on it, during an open house day a few years back (the artist and his children were on it). It has a whole artist studio on it including a pool table. Quite impressive. “A slice of reality”, is the name of the artwork.
No expense spared on creating welcoming vibrant places to foster the community. All that rich history expressed and celebrated, fostering a sense of permanence and belonging.
Greenwich resident here. The cross section of the ship is an artwork. It has a sign next to it. There are a number of sculptures along the Thames path on the peninsula all exhibited as part of the same project.
I was born in SE9 and most of my family history is around this part of London, Surrey Docks and the Woolwich Arsenal. The Peninsular was just one giant Gasworks so not often visited unless you worked in the Gasworks. The place looks soulless so another missed opportunity to create new homes for working people
My brother lives right next to the O2 Arena in one of those blocks,I love the view from he's balcony across the Thames to East London. Thanks for another great video John as always. I learnt a lot about North Greenwich that I didn't know before like the Whale oil information that was quite interesting. I started one of my favourite walks to date from North Greenwich along the Thames Path all the way to Waterloo Station. Also a week or so ago I went on one of those cable carts to try to conquer my fear of heights....it didn't work out and as soon as I got up to the highest height the wind picked up and the cart started to sway from side to side,I will never again get on one of those things no thank you lol
Richard Wilson told me it was his office for a while, and sometimes his sons would hold parties in it and get complaints from the other side of the river. But primarily it is a sculpture, and part of a commissioned set around the peninsular; and this was actually a slice of a ship, in line with the Greenwich meridian.
Being notified your 15 year old block was built using flammable materials and that residents may have to pay for remedial works has really helped cultivate neighbours in my street, as we’ve had to come together to fight the ‘social’ housing association landlord. I guess every cloud has a silver lining.
I'd forgotten about that ship section at the edge of the embankment. I do hope someone can enlighten me on its history - it is indeed a strange item. Personally I wasn't impressed by the housing in Grenwich', New London. I grew up when they were hailing places like Tavy Bridge in Thamesmead, and it's concrete towerblocks - generations down the line these did not look iconic in a good way. This new development has the appearance not of permanent homes but of transitory hostels to me I'm afraid. I appreciated the walk round though, always interesting and informative. 👍👣👣👣
@@juliahartshorn2473 I very much doubt it. I’d hope building regulations have changed for the better recently. Residents here will have to hope other less unfortunate means propose themselves to elicit a sense of community, as the developers seemingly continue to omit factoring in that vital little detail.
Inspired by your walks I had ventured to Stratford and where you are in this one last summer during lockdown. I returned home afterwards feeling quite depressed and feeling very negative about the new face of these areas. I found them quite desolate and very depressing, completely lacking any soul or character. I actually found myself feeling quite sad, not because of change, but more that this would be a vision of anyone's for a future, given that they have a blank canvass.
I went there a couple of months before Covid. Everything shouts at you. All the signs and shops are in BLOCK capitals. The colour on buildings is like bunting on soulless blocks of concrete cathedrals. The place is so windy and everything is too big. The cable car soars high in the air for no apparent reason except to spy on the people below as the aircraft roar above it. The dome has the elegance of a blister on the landscape. However the Antony Gormley is superb. The work seems to contain a figure trapped within it and all the real people that pass it, that look too small to inhabit the folly of building on the marsh, are perhaps reflected in that image. Great vlog John. I am far less impartial than you about this place built on pillars of salt and sand. Thanks for taking us along. I really love you films.
Once again thank you so much for the history delivered in such a marvellous way. You have brought me a sense of the timeless within history, which is comforting in a troubled and financially decadent time.
This is one of the best videos john has done!! I have often watched it as repeated viewing, i used to love doing these walks myself as i am very facinated by London and its history and chsnges once agsin thankyou john for a great video ,and shall always look firward to future ones ad i have also have been watching this brilliant series from the start god bless!!
A really fascinating video. Speaking for myself I found the ambience of the area very melancholic. I hated those blocks of flats, despite the attempts to give them character with a few random splashes of colour. The ubiquitous chain outlets, Wagamama and Costa added to the desolation.
just like canary wharf, sanitised for the bankers and their ilk, who will be living there, on the other side are the local authority houses, which look awful now the weather has got at them.
We have a holiday camp in our town which had the same type of millennium dome and material. Sadly 21 years since it was dumped on us it's supposedly high tec covering is a filthy shade of grey and a complete eyesore.
Very interesting John. It took me back to when I was about eighteen when through a friend of mine I met a man called Johnny Westfallen and he had an old barge moored at the Isle of Dogs which was used as a youth club. The yellow containers on the boat could be re-cycling but may also be clinical waste as hospitals use yellow bins for that. The birds at the end were indeed herons. Bob.
Great music in this one! Best bit about walking this stretch now is heading east to the Anchor and Hope pub down in Charlton. The whole year zero thing from Barking to Battersea is astounding to see.
Another great video John. The developments have made good use of a brownfield site that was basically toxic, some of the housing looks fine but the bigger blocks look a bit Soviet. I lived in the Scandic Hotel opposite Canary Wharf while working in London, the hotel was built on an old dock and even had a barge in the grounds that they used as a bar.
I worked on the Millenium Village back in 2000 for a few years. I was working as a steel erector and structual glazing, we built all those balconies and glazed them etc, and the staircases and terraces. Really enjoyed that job.
Reluctant as you are (so far) to voice an opinion, it does seem to remain the sort of area where nobody would miss it if there was a large explosion. I hasten to add I'm referring only to the banal architecture, not the people
Hi John - Perhaps I am old but those blocks of flats look so out of place and heartless . You would feel the occupants would just go to and from them without speaking to their neighbours . The colours just dont look right either , but this type of deign seems popular with developers as there are some similar near me at Chatham docks. Keep Safe Cheers Kev
Really enjoyed you trying to be neutral. Along with a hundred other performers I was part of the Millenium Experience. I was issued with a huge security tag on a lanyard which I still have my main memory was a fellow performer from NZ being able to get on something called the Internet and send messages home for free.
Bloody hell, not the Greenwich I knew in the 60's, but then London is always evolving, that history shows. A beautiful part of South London. I'm from Bermondsey and that has changed beyond recognition too.
I’ve been to London five or six times. Your walks show me areas I’ve never seen and are fascinating. The history is much appreciated. I guess for me any way Samuel Johnson was right when he said that when a man is tired of London he’s tired of life
I think the yellow containers are to do with waste removal/disposal. They get carried on barges to the power generating incinerator plant at Erith, just further downriver from Crossness sewage plants. I think it's non-recyclable waste that gets burned, the heat turned to energy, and the ash used for something like fertiliser.
"Not much of a Viking.." Classic. It doesn't really matter what people think of the new areas. Some will work and some will not. Time will tell. Thanks to you we get to see them with a good commentary.
The ship at the end 30:53 is a modern art piece called "A Slice of Reality" - it is cut from a real ship, yes! And it's a popular place to squat. On Open House weekends it's sometimes open to visitors.
Hi John, Thanks for your walk around the Greenwich Peninsula. Very , very interesting to see all the new development. Great shots of the Millenium Dome - what can I say - it looks like a deconstructed gasometer.
Hi John, I think you made reference in this video to my question in your Q&A about horrible buildings - glad to see you're embracing some of the new ones they do create a nice space, great vid as usual!, Thank, Rob
I was surprised by how much I liked the brightly coloured apartment blocks, I also liked the wide grassy verges. When my sons were growing up, we used to get the DLR to Island Gardens and walk through the foot tunnel to the Cutty Sark. It was a great day out and cheap too.
Hi John thanks for sharing. The stand out reason for you appreciating the new living area developments is simply wildlife which is usually abundant near waterways. It doesn’t take long for nature to pleasure us.🐝🦆🌳🌸
Happy Easter from Ukraine, John! You might not know, but they have renovated an underground pedestrian crossing in Moldova after Bald`s video))) Keep up the great work and stay fit.
We enjoy your videos very much. We've just returned from New York and we pondered whilst there whether you have ever contemplated making a couple of walking videos there in that amazing city. Kind regards. Dave and Katie
Hi John the item you saw and called a chest buried in the mud was an old water tank. Which nearly all old properties had. Possibly dumped because it’s hard to remove the galvanisation to recycle.
Thanks for the film Not a walk I would do buildings looked like slums of the future One thing can be questioned of those who drew up. The plans have they never learned how to use an eraser Look forward to your next outing Stay strong and healthy SMILES 👍🇬🇧👌
I worked at STC Christchurch way for a good few years. I hate to sound like an old git but Greenwich had so much Charactre then. I remember the sailor pub and all the good times in the other pubs there. I'm all for cleaning up certain areas but with too much gentrification you are in danger of losing the soul of a place. Great video!
Fascinating. I really enjoyed this. Personally, I like the modern, new residential buildings. The exteriors are artful, and the homes within are energy efficient, bright, non-toxic, and functionally laid out. Of course, preservation and history are essential. But I think investments in new housing are healthy for any city.
It was such a privilege to meet you John, having watched your videos and recently moving to the area, it’s really been useful getting to know the history of South East London and the surrounding areas. Thank you for the shout out, we hope to bump into you again on one of our walks! PS if you ever need a hand with the films, Andrea has a degree in video art that she needs to put to use ! Andrea and Musa x
So many fascinating details in the commentary. Lovely to sit here with a glass of Chateau Aldi and imagine I am walking along with you, making smartarse remarks. Talk about Year Zero. Apart from the Dome itself, the Gormley sculpture and the Slice of Reality are the only things I recognised. (I was last there in 2003.)
cracking good episode. I been to O2 and on the cable cars about 5years ago. quite enjoyed the ride. Massive blocks of flats reaching for the sky. how high can the go before there's a catastrophe I wonder. Really enjoyed this John. thank you
Great video John. I believe that all the new developments on the peninsula are connected to a communal heating system powered by the gas generator that can be seen as you approach the blackwall tunnel from south to north on your right hand side (has an angular silver chimney) known as the Energy Centre.
Another great treck, John. Funny you should mention Siberia... I reckon an old wasteland has simply been turned into a "New Wasteland". With so much new accommodation, where were all the inmates on the First Day of Summer??
I'm sitting watching your latest video as part of a smart Phone group I run in a children's hospital. I dreamt last night that your videos of London were in fact Fred Housgows history on for doorstep. This has shaken me up a hit. Great posting and really enjoyable
At least the 60s and 70s concrete tower carbuncles were housing the British who badly needed affordable social housing. Subsequently those high rises mainly pulled down as not beneficial for decent family life but good for crime and squalor. So what, why and who are these hideous blocks built for? (Answer: foreign investors)
What an amazing walk John and the ecology park was amazing. The architecture is strange and the year zero concept bizarre. I would like to sew more old within the new a bit like wapping.
Thank you for that walk. I am so glad I don't have to live there in those very expensive concrete boxes. I would rather remember it as it was in the 60's 70's. All those buildings shown at the beginning of this video maybe might have been quite nice individulally on a drawing board but in reality they look like the battle of Ego's right next to one another.
Thankyou john for a facinating video, to my mind they have never properly decided what to do with the vast space on the peninsula, when they started with the millenium dome it was a new type of concept, both in sesign and its construction wich was no easy task due to restricted space wich meant they could not use tower cranes and what they did use i.e. telescopic cranes had to be small again due to lack of space, the actual physical construction itself was a joint venture between sir robert macalpine and laings now laing o'rourk, the roofing is made of then a new type of composite a sort of plastic and fibre glass and the construction workers had to abseil it in order to fit the supporting cables, the giant whole in the middle is a ventilation shaft for the Blackwall tunnel! I am not sure where the old gasworks where sited, there where the remnants of one of the gasometres bug that was eventually taken down as well, i doubt if i could ever find the exact site as i would love to know what sits on it now, thankyou for a great and interesting video god bless, as i love all yoyr videos!!
Interesting listening to you talking about the Millennium Eve in Greenwich. I was in the police and my job that night was to stop revellers climbing on to Sir Francis Chichesters yacht the Gypsy Moth that was situated close to the Cutty Sark.
Nice video. Expect some organic coffee and sour dough bread shortly. Pity I hate the idea of living in London so much, also a pity Bristol is going the same way.
As a man living in a quiet suburb in NW England the feeling I get from this place is one of melancholy. I cannot for the life of me understand why so many people want to live crammed together and no doubt pay exorbitant prices for the dubious pleasure of doing so. Sartre said that "hell is other people" and he wasn't far wrong. Incidentally, when watching with subtitles enabled, William The Conqueror comes out as "William McConkerer".
These places are dormitories for a compliant worker bee population also scrambling for scraps and selling themselves on a daily basis. They are a population willingly, gleefully molded to participate like this. Only their psychiatrists know how awful it all truly is.
@ 18:12 walk along the foreshore. I imagine there's all that single on the beach because there used to be a big aggregates handling site near there served by ships offloading for distribution by road and rail. @ 19:30, metal tank. I saw a description only the other day that said it was an old hot water tank with a round inspection hatch. @ 22:05 Reminder Lane. Possibly a reference to a Thames Sailing Barge called Reminder, built at Mistley on the River Stour in Essex for F W Horlock. Her website states that, "Reminder finished her working life as a ballast barge." Ballast is about the grade of shingle on that foreshore by the dock which I noticed still exists, as well it might because of all the new building going on all around there.
WOAH! I misread the name of Reminder's owner firm, which was FW Horlock, so I've edited my previous comment above accordingly, and it makes so much more sense now. Horlicks were based in Slough, Berks, nowhere near the Thames! :D
My partner said about half an hour ago 'are you waiting for John Rogers?' as I waited on RUclips. He knows me so well. Happy Ostara x
glad I could get it online at a decent time for you Julie - hope you enjoy it
@@JohnRogersWalks you have never posted anything I haven't enjoyed watching
Christ is risen!
@@julieblackstock8650 I totally agree Julie. John’s work is great 👍🏻
Great walk, I do this down to the Barrier quite often. I think all these new developments look so alike and soulless places myself. Wind canyons abound.
Another excellent video John. As a Greenwich resident I have seen the peninsula change beyond belief in the last 25 years. Small bit of trivia, the row of houses next to The Pilot pub was where Blur filmed the Parklife video.
I was wondering if you know why just those row of houses and The Pilot pub are all still as was, when every else around them has been completely redeveloped? How have they escaped the redevelopment schemes? I am very pleased they have, but am curious, how?
I don’t live in Greenwich, but have visited and walked the area for many years, the changes I’ve seen is unbelievable. Each time I visit it becomes more and more unrecognisable to the old peninsula I use to know. I use to love the vastness of it.. now it feels like where I live in London, very hemmed in. Such a shame.
Hi John, a very interesting video.
The buildings remind me of photos and videos of “tall” buildings in Vietnam. I like the colourful panels on the balconies.
Good wildlife. The buildings with drab grey panels are a bit depressing. I’m going to watch this video again
This is my favourite channel on the internet, I came across your channel a couple of months ago, and now look forward to your videos every Sunday, great narration, great voice, your timing and your cadence is perfect👍🏾I've now gone from watching these on my laptop to my 55inch with popcorn lol. You're like the David Attenborough of psychogeography.
Thank you very much indeed - deeply flattered
I feel exactly the same!
I concur... started on my laptop, now watching this on my 55" but with a keurig coffee in hand.
This channel and good 'ol Joolz Guides truly make my day and make me miss London dearly.
Hello John. In hospital at the moment just watched the new video and it made me feel like I was safe at home. Great one again John thank you.
I feel very lucky to live in our 1930's semi in Stanmore with a small wildlife garden, wonky pond and bumblebees. Thanks for sharing John 🍀
Maybe as the area has a lot of nautical history, Reminder Lane may be named after the Thames barge 'Reminder' if you google it The National Historic Ships UK website has loads of info and pictures of this beautiful ship: 'Legend has it that in the 1928 Thames Barge Match, Fred Horlock promised his victorious rivals that he would give them a ‘reminder’ of the speed of his barges. In the following year, 1929, REMINDER was launched from the F W Horlock yard in Mistley, Essex, for F W Horlock’s own fleet. She fulfilled Fred Horlock’s expectations, becoming champion barge in her class in both the Thames and Medway matches in her first year'. I may be completely wrong, but I hope not, it would be a great origin for the street name. Thanks again John for a brilliant and insightful video
Great walk John, the cut out ship is called "A Slice Of Reality" by artist Richard Wilson commissioned by the Mellennium Dome it a slice of the former Dredger "arco trent"
The section of container ship is an artwork by the artist Richard Wilson. I went on it, during an open house day a few years back (the artist and his children were on it). It has a whole artist studio on it including a pool table. Quite impressive. “A slice of reality”, is the name of the artwork.
No expense spared on creating welcoming vibrant places to foster the community.
All that rich history expressed and celebrated, fostering a sense of permanence and belonging.
All that wonderful history encapsulated and preserved for eternity for us by the architects and planners ......in a street sign
Yay hi John , guess what ? We walked around Rochester Today , it was fab . First time since lockdown. Xxx thank you for inspiring us to keep going xxx
Greenwich resident here. The cross section of the ship is an artwork. It has a sign next to it. There are a number of sculptures along the Thames path on the peninsula all exhibited as part of the same project.
My last visit to London was in the mid 1990s. This is a whole other London , a completely different city, indeed!
John you are wonderfully natural and expressive, love your personality. Thanks from all of us who can't travel anymore.
That’s very kind of you Camille
I was born in SE9 and most of my family history is around this part of London, Surrey Docks and the Woolwich Arsenal. The Peninsular was just one giant Gasworks so not often visited unless you worked in the Gasworks. The place looks soulless so another missed opportunity to create new homes for working people
My brother lives right next to the O2 Arena in one of those blocks,I love the view from he's balcony across the Thames to East London. Thanks for another great video John as always. I learnt a lot about North Greenwich that I didn't know before like the Whale oil information that was quite interesting. I started one of my favourite walks to date from North Greenwich along the Thames Path all the way to Waterloo Station. Also a week or so ago I went on one of those cable carts to try to conquer my fear of heights....it didn't work out and as soon as I got up to the highest height the wind picked up and the cart started to sway from side to side,I will never again get on one of those things no thank you lol
The boat sculpture is 'A Slice of Reality' (2000) by Richard Wilson
Thanks for this info, I’ve walked by it scores of times always trying to figure out why it was there.
I don't believe it!
Richard Wilson told me it was his office for a while, and sometimes his sons would hold parties in it and get complaints from the other side of the river. But primarily it is a sculpture, and part of a commissioned set around the peninsular; and this was actually a slice of a ship, in line with the Greenwich meridian.
The blocks seem so stark and lonely. How do you ever cultivate neighbors or a sense of community?
Being notified your 15 year old block was built using flammable materials and that residents may have to pay for remedial works has really helped cultivate neighbours in my street, as we’ve had to come together to fight the ‘social’ housing association landlord.
I guess every cloud has a silver lining.
Looks like rows of office blocks, nothing being built for the ordinary worker either.
I'd forgotten about that ship section at the edge of the embankment.
I do hope someone can enlighten me on its history - it is indeed a strange item.
Personally I wasn't impressed by the housing in Grenwich', New London. I grew up when they were hailing places like Tavy Bridge in Thamesmead, and it's concrete towerblocks - generations down the line these did not look iconic in a good way. This new development has the appearance not of permanent homes but of transitory hostels to me I'm afraid.
I appreciated the walk round though, always interesting and informative. 👍👣👣👣
@@forecast_hinderer goodness! Is that on this New Millennium development too?
@@juliahartshorn2473 I very much doubt it. I’d hope building regulations have changed for the better recently.
Residents here will have to hope other less unfortunate means propose themselves to elicit a sense of community, as the developers seemingly continue to omit factoring in that vital little detail.
Inspired by your walks I had ventured to Stratford and where you are in this one last summer during lockdown.
I returned home afterwards feeling quite depressed and feeling very negative about the new face of these areas.
I found them quite desolate and very depressing, completely lacking any soul or character.
I actually found myself feeling quite sad, not because of change, but more that this would be a vision of anyone's for a future, given that they have a blank canvass.
I agree with the sadness.
Tartarian was a period of beauty unmatched
I went there a couple of months before Covid. Everything shouts at you. All the signs and shops are in BLOCK capitals. The colour on buildings is like bunting on soulless blocks of concrete cathedrals. The place is so windy and everything is too big. The cable car soars high in the air for no apparent reason except to spy on the people below as the aircraft roar above it. The dome has the elegance of a blister on the landscape. However the Antony Gormley is superb. The work seems to contain a figure trapped within it and all the real people that pass it, that look too small to inhabit the folly of building on the marsh, are perhaps reflected in that image. Great vlog John. I am far less impartial than you about this place built on pillars of salt and sand. Thanks for taking us along. I really love you films.
An interesting fact is that Blur filmed the music video for Park Life outside the houses by the Pilot Inn.
Once again thank you so much for the history delivered in such a marvellous way. You have brought me a sense of the timeless within history, which is comforting in a troubled and financially decadent time.
Woo hoo, evening complete. Happy Easter John 🐣
Happy Easter!!
another excellent video John! always nice to put the feet up in the evening and learn about the history of London!
This is one of the best videos john has done!! I have often watched it as repeated viewing, i used to love doing these walks myself as i am very facinated by London and its history and chsnges once agsin thankyou john for a great video ,and shall always look firward to future ones ad i have also have been watching this brilliant series from the start god bless!!
"Dystopian hellhole'😄 great walk. Thnx again John
New London looks like a place waiting for something to happen. Great video as always 👍
Thanks for making my sundays more interesting John ❤️👍🏼
A really fascinating video. Speaking for myself I found the ambience of the area very melancholic. I hated those blocks of flats, despite the attempts to give them character with a few random splashes of colour. The ubiquitous chain outlets, Wagamama and Costa added to the desolation.
So true.
just like canary wharf, sanitised for the bankers and their ilk, who will be living there, on the other side are the local authority houses, which look awful now the weather has got at them.
We have a holiday camp in our town which had the same type of millennium dome and material. Sadly 21 years since it was dumped on us it's supposedly high tec covering is a filthy shade of grey and a complete eyesore.
Thanks John for another great historical adventure - a perfect end to Easter weekend 👍
The millennium dome looks to me like they forgot to remove the cranes!🤣
I thought they were still building it but it's not. Definitely looks unfurnished
Very interesting John. It took me back to when I was about eighteen when through a friend of mine I met a man called Johnny Westfallen and he had an old barge moored at the Isle of Dogs which was used as a youth club. The yellow containers on the boat could be re-cycling but may also be clinical waste as hospitals use yellow bins for that. The birds at the end were indeed herons. Bob.
Beautiful! Great Virtual Tour! 👍👍😊😊 AWESOME!
Great music in this one! Best bit about walking this stretch now is heading east to the Anchor and Hope pub down in Charlton. The whole year zero thing from Barking to Battersea is astounding to see.
Lovely pub and yes love that part of the walk too.
@@welshcake8086 it’s, how can we say, rather traditional, but very much a slice of the old dockside Thames
Great walk ,love the Riverside walks so much.
John's vids are great to chill out to, very relaxing.
Another great video John. The developments have made good use of a brownfield site that was basically toxic, some of the housing looks fine but the bigger blocks look a bit Soviet. I lived in the Scandic Hotel opposite Canary Wharf while working in London, the hotel was built on an old dock and even had a barge in the grounds that they used as a bar.
I worked on the Millenium Village back in 2000 for a few years. I was working as a steel erector and structual glazing, we built all those balconies and glazed them etc, and the staircases and terraces. Really enjoyed that job.
Drawn to your walks as my son has just moved to East india dock and I wanted to learn the area. Now addicted thank you I have learned so much
Reluctant as you are (so far) to voice an opinion, it does seem to remain the sort of area where nobody would miss it if there was a large explosion. I hasten to add I'm referring only to the banal architecture, not the people
Hi John - Perhaps I am old but those blocks of flats look so out of place and heartless . You would feel the occupants would just go to and from them without speaking to their neighbours . The colours just dont look right either , but this type of deign seems popular with developers as there are some similar near me at Chatham docks.
Keep Safe Cheers Kev
That’s exactly how it looked to me too. Just a strange kind of out of place weird buildings
Another great video. Thanks John ..
Making my time in hospital more bearable 👍🏻
Really enjoyed you trying to be neutral. Along with a hundred other performers I was part of the Millenium Experience. I was issued with a huge security tag on a lanyard which I still have my main memory was a fellow performer from NZ being able to get on something called the Internet and send messages home for free.
Bloody hell, not the Greenwich I knew in the 60's, but then London is always evolving, that history shows. A beautiful part of South London. I'm from Bermondsey and that has changed beyond recognition too.
was that area a huge gas works in the 60's?
I’ve been to London five or six times. Your walks show me areas I’ve never seen and are fascinating. The history is much appreciated. I guess for me any way Samuel Johnson was right when he said that when a man is tired of London he’s tired of life
Nah....sick of the gun, knife and gang crime
I think the yellow containers are to do with waste removal/disposal. They get carried on barges to the power generating incinerator plant at Erith, just further downriver from Crossness sewage plants. I think it's non-recyclable waste that gets burned, the heat turned to energy, and the ash used for something like fertiliser.
"Not much of a Viking.." Classic. It doesn't really matter what people think of the new areas. Some will work and some will not. Time will tell. Thanks to you we get to see them with a good commentary.
I really enjoyed your walk today....I can't wait to be able to get back up to London and take some photos
The ship at the end 30:53 is a modern art piece called "A Slice of Reality" - it is cut from a real ship, yes! And it's a popular place to squat. On Open House weekends it's sometimes open to visitors.
Thanks Conni
You choose and manage to find very nice music to go with your videos. Not an easy thing to do from RUclips Audio Library. Thanks!
Excellent walk as usual John,always look forward to the next one wherever that may be!!!
Thanks Mam
Another fascinating video John.
Yes, the Tesco value beans were 13p!
Hi John, Thanks for your walk around the Greenwich Peninsula. Very , very interesting to see all the new development. Great shots of the Millenium Dome - what can I say - it looks like a deconstructed gasometer.
Hi John, I think you made reference in this video to my question in your Q&A about horrible buildings - glad to see you're embracing some of the new ones they do create a nice space, great vid as usual!, Thank, Rob
I was surprised by how much I liked the brightly coloured apartment blocks, I also liked the wide grassy verges. When my sons were growing up, we used to get the DLR to Island Gardens and walk through the foot tunnel to the Cutty Sark. It was a great day out and cheap too.
Hi John thanks for sharing. The stand out reason for you appreciating the new living area developments is simply wildlife which is usually abundant near waterways. It doesn’t take long for nature to pleasure us.🐝🦆🌳🌸
Another great walk and talk. Thanks, John! I got a good chuckle out of your comments on the Vikings in particular.
Amazing channel, one of my favourites. Cheers from Brazil.
In my way of thinking, New London looks like it would be a photographer's paradise. As with all of London, An artist and writer's future landscape!
I think you're right Tom
Fantastic video ,New London looks interesting and more interesting is to see the walk ways and open space with less traffic about ...
Enjoyed this video! Slightly different outlook had there been some currant bun!Great insight to this part of London!
Loved the Herons, fantastic as always John thank you.👍🏻
Excellent walk, as usual. Thank you.
That ship thing you mentioned is a sculpture called Slice Of Reality - Richard Wilson
The exposed living quarters of a dissected sand dredger.
Thanks Jenny - only realised there was a sculpture trail when finishing the video last night but didn’t know this was part of it
Happy Easter from Ukraine, John! You might not know, but they have renovated an underground pedestrian crossing in Moldova after Bald`s video))) Keep up the great work and stay fit.
I hope all goes well for you and your country folk. God bless.... From the UK.
@@user-itschad1954 Thank you
Should be playing Whale Meat Again in the background?
brilliant
Thanks so much for this video, John. Learned so much about the area.
Great to see this pop up after my own London walk in the sun today!
hope you enjoy it Tom
@@JohnRogersWalks I always do :)
We enjoy your videos very much. We've just returned from New York and we pondered whilst there whether you have ever contemplated making a couple of walking videos there in that amazing city. Kind regards. Dave and Katie
Hi Dave - I have one New York video from 2010 somewhere, I’ll try and find it
Do you know if still possible to do hikking on the Dome? It was possible while ago
Hi John the item you saw and called a chest buried in the mud was an old water tank. Which nearly all old properties had. Possibly dumped because it’s hard to remove the galvanisation to recycle.
Another enjoyable video , its like a personal tour thanks to your narration. Keep up the good work..
Thanks for the film Not a walk I would do buildings looked like slums of the future One thing can be questioned of those who drew up. The plans have they never learned how to use an eraser Look forward to your next outing
Stay strong and healthy SMILES 👍🇬🇧👌
I worked at STC Christchurch way for a good few years. I hate to sound like an old git but Greenwich had so much Charactre then. I remember the sailor pub and all the good times in the other pubs there. I'm all for cleaning up certain areas but with too much gentrification you are in danger of losing the soul of a place. Great video!
More boxes 😳 Great to hear the histories John. Thanks 🙏
Fascinating. I really enjoyed this. Personally, I like the modern, new residential buildings. The exteriors are artful, and the homes within are energy efficient, bright, non-toxic, and functionally laid out. Of course, preservation and history are essential. But I think investments in new housing are healthy for any city.
Fantastic walk, perfect end to an Easter Sunday.
It was such a privilege to meet you John, having watched your videos and recently moving to the area, it’s really been useful getting to know the history of South East London and the surrounding areas. Thank you for the shout out, we hope to bump into you again on one of our walks! PS if you ever need a hand with the films, Andrea has a degree in video art that she needs to put to use ! Andrea and Musa x
that's lovely Musa, thank you - and please tell Andrea Cathy remembered her well from their time at Maidstone. I'll certainly bear that offer in mind
So many fascinating details in the commentary. Lovely to sit here with a glass of Chateau Aldi and imagine I am walking along with you, making smartarse remarks.
Talk about Year Zero. Apart from the Dome itself, the Gormley sculpture and the Slice of Reality are the only things I recognised. (I was last there in 2003.)
I really enjoyed the cable car ride, horses for courses I suppose, really enjoy these videos.
cracking good episode. I been to O2 and on the cable cars about 5years ago. quite enjoyed the ride. Massive blocks of flats reaching for the sky. how high can the go before there's a catastrophe I wonder. Really enjoyed this John. thank you
The structure you highlighted towards the end of the video looked like it was the control bridge of the Woolwich Ferry.
Great video John. I believe that all the new developments on the peninsula are connected to a communal heating system powered by the gas generator that can be seen as you approach the blackwall tunnel from south to north on your right hand side (has an angular silver chimney) known as the Energy Centre.
Those new Apartments reminded me of the Rubik's cube
Another great treck, John.
Funny you should mention Siberia...
I reckon an old wasteland has simply been turned into a "New Wasteland".
With so much new accommodation, where were all the inmates on the First Day of Summer??
I'm sitting watching your latest video as part of a smart Phone group I run in a children's hospital. I dreamt last night that your videos of London were in fact Fred Housgows history on for doorstep. This has shaken me up a hit. Great posting and really enjoyable
At least the 60s and 70s concrete tower carbuncles were housing the British who badly needed affordable social housing.
Subsequently those high rises mainly pulled down as not beneficial for decent family life but good for crime and squalor.
So what, why and who are these hideous blocks built for?
(Answer: foreign investors)
Great video, John... and a nice little shout out to top chap Si-Finds too 👍
What an amazing walk John and the ecology park was amazing. The architecture is strange and the year zero concept bizarre. I would like to sew more old within the new a bit like wapping.
Great work. Thanks John.
Would love it if you did a video around shoreditch/Bethnal green!
Thank you for that walk. I am so glad I don't have to live there in those very expensive concrete boxes. I would rather remember it as it was in the 60's 70's. All those buildings shown at the beginning of this video maybe might have been quite nice individulally on a drawing board but in reality they look like the battle of Ego's right next to one another.
Thankyou john for a facinating video, to my mind they have never properly decided what to do with the vast space on the peninsula, when they started with the millenium dome it was a new type of concept, both in sesign and its construction wich was no easy task due to restricted space wich meant they could not use tower cranes and what they did use i.e. telescopic cranes had to be small again due to lack of space, the actual physical construction itself was a joint venture between sir robert macalpine and laings now laing o'rourk, the roofing is made of then a new type of composite a sort of plastic and fibre glass and the construction workers had to abseil it in order to fit the supporting cables, the giant whole in the middle is a ventilation shaft for the Blackwall tunnel! I am not sure where the old gasworks where sited, there where the remnants of one of the gasometres bug that was eventually taken down as well, i doubt if i could ever find the exact site as i would love to know what sits on it now, thankyou for a great and interesting video god bless, as i love all yoyr videos!!
Good video keep up the good work, all the way from ilford Essex 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Interesting listening to you talking about the Millennium Eve in Greenwich. I was in the police and my job that night was to stop revellers climbing on to Sir Francis Chichesters yacht the Gypsy Moth that was situated close to the Cutty Sark.
Nice video. Expect some organic coffee and sour dough bread shortly. Pity I hate the idea of living in London so much, also a pity Bristol is going the same way.
Nice video john love those thames walks so much history hope there is more in pipeline cheers
There certainly is Paul
As a man living in a quiet suburb in NW England the feeling I get from this place is one of melancholy. I cannot for the life of me understand why so many people want to live crammed together and no doubt pay exorbitant prices for the dubious pleasure of doing so. Sartre said that "hell is other people" and he wasn't far wrong. Incidentally, when watching with subtitles enabled, William The Conqueror comes out as "William McConkerer".
Maybe he was really Scottish. :)
These places are dormitories for a compliant worker bee population also scrambling for scraps and selling themselves on a daily basis. They are a population willingly, gleefully molded to participate like this. Only their psychiatrists know how awful it all truly is.
@ 18:12 walk along the foreshore. I imagine there's all that single on the beach because there used to be a big aggregates handling site near there served by ships offloading for distribution by road and rail.
@ 19:30, metal tank. I saw a description only the other day that said it was an old hot water tank with a round inspection hatch.
@ 22:05 Reminder Lane. Possibly a reference to a Thames Sailing Barge called Reminder, built at Mistley on the River Stour in Essex for F W Horlock. Her website states that, "Reminder finished her working life as a ballast barge." Ballast is about the grade of shingle on that foreshore by the dock which I noticed still exists, as well it might because of all the new building going on all around there.
WOAH! I misread the name of Reminder's owner firm, which was FW Horlock, so I've edited my previous comment above accordingly, and it makes so much more sense now.
Horlicks were based in Slough, Berks, nowhere near the Thames! :D