Walk the line New Cross to New Cross Gate

Transcription

1 Introduction From colourful East End Markets to a Victorian Music Hall, the new London Overground extension weaves its way through some of the most fascinating areas of London. For Walk the Line, London Transport Museum worked with local community groups to create audio walking tours that allow you to explore beyond the railway. There are 5 different walks to try: Dalston Junction to Hoxton; Shoreditch High Street to Whitechapel; Shadwell to Wapping; Rotherhithe to Surrey Quays;. : Discover the glitz of New Cross past and present with members of Lewisham s Young Mayors panel and students from Goldsmiths University. This walk takes you on a journey to uncover the area s prosperous history and vibrant cultural scene.

2 New Cross Inn and the Venue The venue is a well known music club in New Cross founded in 1980 but it was built in 1925 and it has always been an entertainment venue. Also opposite it, is the New Cross Inn. In the 1990s, these were both central to the Indie and Britpop scenes and played host to bands such as Oasis and Radiohead. New Cross is the supposed birthplace of New Rave which differs from other movements because of its use of fluorescent and neon colours and its emphasis on celebrity. The New Cross Inn also hosted performers such as Jools Holland, and bands such as Block Party and Blur.

3 Prangsta Costumiers Prangsta vintage costume makers, they re very well known and the building is owned by Goldsmiths. It was a squat café for 20 years but they now rent the building from Goldsmiths. They restore vintage clothes and do dressing up parties and make clothes for each person; they mainly do this for famous people. Uh, they also offer work experience placements that, I ll be doing one this summer. You have to ring the door bell to get into the building but its open to the public and they re very friendly. There s also nothing else like it in the area.

4 Deptford Town Hall Deptford Town Hall is on the main strip that runs through New Cross and is just down the road from Goldsmiths College. As you can see it s a highly decorative building with naval and maritime references reflecting the seafaring history of this area. If you look up, there s four figures on the front, one of which is Nelson and there s another which is Sir Francis Drake. There s a real lot of civic pride in Deptford around the time of its building in the early 1900s and I think this is perhaps why it s so elaborate in its decoration. It was very prosperous at that time and the building was used as a naval training college, but it s now owned by Goldsmiths. The wealth of the area really dwindled after the Second World War and I think this was due to it being under the flight path of the German bombers. When the, as they were flying back to the continent, they would dispose of any left over bombs, hence the raw contrast between buildings like the Town Hall and other buildings in the area. If you look behind you on the wall of the supermarket, there s a plaque that commemorates some of the bomb damage that happened here. Another interesting fact about New Cross is that it had the highest sign up rate of young men to the army during the Second World War.

5 Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths as we know it today began in 1843 as a Royal Naval School. It became Goldsmiths, part of the University of London in 1904, so in 2004 it celebrated its 100 years anniversary. Uh, during the Second World War much of the main building was bombed but luckily students and staff had been evacuated beforehand to Nottingham University. Today Goldsmiths is renowned for its dedication to the arts, social policy and cultural studies.

6 Telegraph Hill Telegraph Hill is a long street with a public park at the top that was built around 1875 and is now one of the only green spaces around. Before it was known as Garlic Plowed Hill. My friend remembers from when she was in Year 4 what her teacher told her about how as you got to the top of the hill, nicer and grander the houses got. The bottom of the hill was owned by the poorer people and as the hill got steeper, nearer to the park, it belonged to more of the wealthiest. Telegraph Hill was originally owned by the Haberdasher Askes Company. It owned most of the land in the area then. Now, however, they own the local school such as Haberdasher Askes, which is known for having the longest waiting list in the country and being the most prestigious state schools. Also, Telegraph Hill is well known for holding events such as a farmers market on Saturdays which is attended by most of the locals in the area. The place is also surrounded by attractive buildings like the Haberdasher Askes Secondary School and churches.

7 New Cross Toll Gate New Cross Gate which is the west of New Cross is named after um, New Cross Toll Gate, which uh, the company New Cross Turnpike Trust in 1718 built the toll gate. The uh, Turnpike Trust who were given the power to build the gate across the road charged fees of passage into Central London, or London. The money collected from the toll gates were used for maintenance of the roads. In 1819, the gate was moved and it was moved to Hatcham, which is why people believe it started to be called New Cross Gate; the people referred to it where the new gate was.