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.

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[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.