TQ3377 : The Bench, Southwark Rugby Club, Burgess Park Sportsground
taken 11 years ago, near to Bermondsey, Southwark, England
The Bench, Southwark Rugby Club, Burgess Park Sportsground
Burgess Park, in inner South East London, is unusual as it is a large park created on a "brownfield" site.
The area was previously occupied by streets, houses and light industry as well as a branch of the Surrey Canal. Plans to create a park here started in the 1940s. At the time, there was very little green open space in this part of inner city London.
The park gradually grew, but in rather haphazard fashion with decaying, abandoned roads still cutting into the park. In 2011-2012 the park closed for about a year so that major work could be done to regenerate the park.
Some years ago I was a contractor to the London Borough of Southwark which involved visiting the livelier parts of Peckham and Camberwell. I recall encountering these little architectural gems hidden away in vast swathes of post-war municipal housing but have no photos of them so this is a welcome reminder of those pre-millennium days.