Thursday 30 September 2010

Ink Drawing By Geoffrey Fletcher of Albury Street 1950.

Geoffrey Scowcroft Fletcher was born in Bolton, Lancashire. He studied at Bolton School of Art before moving to London to study at the Slade under Randolph Schwabe and from this time London was to become one of Fletcher’s enduring interests and passions. In the 1950s his drawings began to appear in The Manchester Guardian and he contributed to the Sphere, recording old and changing London. In 1958 he was taken on by The Daily Telegraph and during the next 30 years hundreds of his drawings accompanied its diary column. In 1962 he published the first of 18 London oriented books:

Fletcher then produced a book called "The London Nobody Knows", which was accompanied by a documentary film and narrated by the famous actor James Mason. Fletcher was a great campaigner for the preservation of historic London. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists and New English Art Club. The Guildhall Art Gallery, who hold many of his works, held an exhibition of Geoffrey Fletcher’s City Sights in 2005. Geoffrey Fletcher died in 2004.

Friday 17 September 2010

Deptford High Street, North End Circa 1865.

This old photo shows the area where Evelyn Street on the left (out of view) crossed the end of Deptford High St to meet Wellington St (Flagons Row) on the right. Center, slightly right shows the entrance into Old King St which went into Watergate St at the far end. To the left we can see New King St. All this area was demolished to make way for Evelyn St to join up with Creek Road. I suppose around the right hand corner into Wellington St one would now find the Old Post Office which is still there, and across from that corner to the right of Old King St now standsDeptford Central Hall. The Harp of Erin must be in there somewhere as well?

Source: My thanks to the Lewisham Local Studies and Archives