Erith

[poliphilo]

Erith

Erith is where my grandfather grew up. Think Great Expectations and you won't be too far wrong. This is marsh country- with the difference that Pip's home town was on the Medway and Erith is on the Thames. I'd never been there before. 

The town got a make over in the 70s and is due for another makeover now that a Morrisons superstore has drawn customers away from the 70s shopping centre. There aren't many buildings left that my grandfather would have known- a couple of pubs, a couple of churches, the public library. All the 19th century housing stock has been swept away and where the family home one stood is a (defunct) nightclub called Extremes.

Comments

[aellia.livejournal.com]

Take away the horizon and it looks just like a spot on Faversham Creek.
I'll find my photo :-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'll watch out for it.

[treehavn.livejournal.com]

This isn't the Erith I know! I lived there when I first moved to London and all the memories I have are quite grim, 1970s concrete block. I still have a hard time reading something like Heart of Darkness and reconciling that version with it's current state.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We saw Erith on a blissfully bright summer's day. This coloured my view. I was expecting grimness and was rather surprised that I didn't get it.

The town centre is a mess- halfway derelict- but Morrisons more than makes up for it.