Reflection on Walworth and Hello Mr. Covid

In 1997 I ran a club night in a pub situated on the Walworth Road in South East London. There, we used to play an assortment of music from 1960s Soul & Pop to the occasional film soundtrack.

We had a ‘open deck’ policy, which meant anyone with a collection of vinyl records could wander in and play to the assembled crowd for half hour or so. One evening a young man came in and dropped a few tunes, as we said back then, all of which went down very well. I spoke to him at length after his set and discovered he, like me, was born locally and loved the area. He also said he had a large collection of photographs, which revealed the ever-changing landscape of SE17.

Walworth Reflections
Elephant Road (Walworth Reflections, Amberley Publishing)

By then I had written a few books, on sport music and fashion mainly, but had always had a yearning to do a photographic local history book and after hearing of this photo collection, that thought occurred to me again. That young fella was Darren Lock and not long after our initial meeting, we met up again to discuss the idea further. Then with the help of local historian Stephen Humphrey, we contacted Amberley and our first book Walworth Through Time was published in 2010.

Within it, we revisited the sights and buildings of which was fondly recalled locally, using Darren’s photos as a memory prod. Despite the absence of any local book shop, it sold very well in local newsagents, various retail spaces and especially within Arments pie and mash shop, which did a roaring trade of selling a book with nearly every third dinner they served up.

Due to public demand, 2012 saw me and Darren follow that first one up with A Second Selection and we were back again in 2014 with the release of Walworth Memories.

Walworth Reflections
St Peter’s (Walworth Reflections, Amberley Publishing)

It then seemed to us like a good idea to mark the tenth anniversary of our first Walworth book, with a new one and so in January 2020 we set to work taking photos and beginning our extensive research. Only, just as we began to get into our stride, we were locked down due to a global pandemic.

Suddenly, all that we took for granted - going to work, visiting friends and family, drinking in pubs, eating out, even going for a walk - was now under strict measures.

It meant change, a lot of change and it took a lot of getting used to. It also meant that over the next 12 months that followed, we saw our ‘manor’ as we had never seen it before. Many parts of Walworth have seen constant change over many decades. But those old streets hadn’t experienced anything like this before. Shops closed, with some, sadly, never to return. The multitude of building sites that are always around us, just stopped, for a while at least. The famous bustling East Street market fell eerily quiet and the numerous, always busy, food establishments serving up cuisine from all corners of the planet, served no more.

The old phrase of ‘may you live in interesting times’ quickly came to mind. I remember thinking, we can all cross that one off our lists.

Walworth Reflections
Carters Menswear (Walworth Reflections, Amberley Publishing)

Months of lockdown continued on and still we battled to complete our new book, which was to be called ‘Walworth Reflections.’ Its aim was to compare 'old' Walworth with the fast emerging 'new' Walworth, which is now one of a vibrant melting pot of cultures and classes living cheek by jowl amid rapid regeneration of a once undervalued part of London.

By the time the book was finally published in 2022, it’s fair to say, the area was undervalued no more. Over the previous five years or so, town planners had seen the potential of what encompasses the Elephant and Castle on the northern border of Walworth, and a new large retail space and leisure area, named ‘Elephant Park’, slowly emerged.

Towards the end of 2023, more old familiar landmarks have gone, and we are now speculating what is to come. Going by the number of building sites on nearly every corner, we won’t have to wait too long till we find out.

Walworth Reflections by Darren Lock and Mark Baxter is available for purchase now.