A new guide to Greenwich focuses on interesting and unusual places not found in traditional travel guides 

Greenwich is the one London district whose name resonates around the world. As ‘the place where time began’, almost everyone has heard of it, so naturally many people want to come here when they visit the capital. With a memorable and picturesque Thames-side location, its maritime history means that there’s more to see here per square foot than any other outer London neighbourhood, and this new guidebook tells you how to do it. 

111 Places in Greenwich That You Shouldn’t Miss – part of the international 111 Places/Shops series with more than 650 titles and 3.8 million copies in print worldwide – not only tracks down the most interesting nuggets among Greenwich’s mainstream sights, from the Cutty Sark to the Meridian Line, but also lifts the lid on the area’s lesser-known attractions.

From haunted Jacobean houses and mudlarking in Deptford Creek, to classic pie and mash shops and famous riverside pubs. It explores beyond the confines of Greenwich town centre, turning up treasures like Henry VIII’s favourite residence, Eltham Palace – now an Art Deco gem – and nearby engineering feats like the Thames Barrier. 

Tarn Park Bird Sanctuary 

Avian tranquility amid the hubub 

To understand how this small hidden park managed to survive in the midst of a busy concrete jungle, we have to cast our minds back to the days when the Tarn was known as Starbucks Pond. Then, Eltham Palace was a royal retreat and the birthplace of Edward II. The estate was majestic. At some point, the grounds incorporated three lakes. Tarn Park is just a fragment left from the royal grounds, much neglected until 1935, when it was purchased by the Council for a public park. 

The ornamental lake is fed by Little Quaggy, a small local stream, via a concrete channel situated at the back of the park. However there is a bit of a puzzle here, the wild meadow pound, next to the Tarn, doesn’t seem to have any source of water, and is a bit of a mystery. A possible explanation is that the water could originate from the 18th-century ice well. The latter is one of the earliest of its kind, and was used by kitchen staff at Eltham Palace. 

Tarn Park is one of the very few bird sanctuaries in the capital. It’s home to a wide variety of wildlife: Canada geese and many types of ducks totter around to the delight of small children, and there are blackbirds, jays, tits, woodpeckers and herons among the species fluttering around this little oasis. A terrapin or two and a few goldfish have also found their way to the Tarn. 

Sadly, and despite all the efforts of volunteers, the Tarn is overgrown with duckweed, and the water is very green. Friends of the Tarn is a group instrumental in its preservation, and it’s thanks to them that joggers, nature-lovers and generations of families are able to enjoy the area, and its abundant fauna. The Friends created a Nature and Butterfly garden, and have lovingly restored bird nesting boxes with funds collected at special events such as tea-parties. There is also a picnic area for visitors who want to spend a little more time here – just don’t forget your bird-watching binoculars. 

Address The Tarn, Court Road, London, SE9 5AQ, www.thetarn.org  Getting there Train to Mottingham with direct trains to London Bridge, Waterloo East, Charing Cross and Cannon Street on the Sidcup line; bus 124, 126 or 161; on foot, The Green Chain Walk, south east London’s walking route linking 300 open spaces by 50 miles of footpaths, passes through the Tarn  Hours Daily 9am – dusk  Tip The Tarn is adjacent to the UK’s oldest golf club: the Royal Blackheath Golf Club 

Albury Street, Deptford

Pretty street that’s a keeper of secrets

Before Henry VIII used the site for his royal dock, Deptford was just a fishing village, but from then on it prospered, and in its heyday the High Street was the Oxford Street of South London. In early 1836, Deptford station was the first railway station to offer rail travel to Central London. The area was badly damaged during World War II, however, and went downhill from then.

Demolition firms and unscru pulous developers teamed up to bulldoze entire streets to make way for high-rise tower blocks. In this context, finding an almost intact row of houses dating back to 1707 is nothing short of a miracle. Although Albury Street is geographically in the borough of Lewisham, it’s so near the Greenwich boundary, and its own story so very intriguing, that it’s one not to miss.

The first things you’ll notice on entering the street are the cobbles and doorways, with their distinctive features: wooden canopies and sculpted brackets with cute cherubs. They were carved and restored by the best woodworkers in the land. If they seem to be arranged in a strange order, it’s due to a mix-up 20 years ago, when the houses were auctioned. Albury Street’s original residents were mostly senior naval officers.

Evidence indicates that Lord Nelson would have stayed at number 19 – now 34 – when on leave. There’s probably nothing exceptional to read into this – even a hero needs a crash pad – but Lady Hamilton is reputed to have lived next door. Moreover, Deptford is riddled with tunnels, one of which ends at number 34. They were built under the instructions of the sea-captains, who were fed up with their booty being stolen on their way back home. Did Lady Hamilton and Captain Nelson use the tunnels to rendezvous? Fiction or reality, there’s no denying that Albury Street is full of charm. Fans of J.K. Rowling will recognise it as Robin’s home, in book four of the Cormoran Strike series.

Address Albury Street, London, SE8 3PT Getting there Train to Deptford; bus 188 Tip Head to the National Maritime Museum to peruse a collection of objects that belonged to Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton, along with several portraits among which is a full-length portrait of their daughter Horatia.

Caradoc Street 

Pretty as a picture, this street is a legend 

South East London is often stereotyped as being rough with pockets of respectability such as Greenwich. That said, Greenwich is a place of two halves: broadly-speaking, the west is gentrified, while the east is gritty. Although located in a conservation zone, East Greenwich largely fails to appear on tourists’ radar. The area consists of a maze of small streets leading to the Thames, and this is where you’ll find Caradoc Street, in a charming and characterful enclave. 

This sweet little street is lined by rows of two-up, two-down terraced houses, built for dock workers and their families in London’s yellow brick stock. They all look very similar, but while some are Georgian, others are much older, having escaped the ravages of the Blitz. They make the street unique, and a prime site popular with film and music video makers. For example, it features in the official video for Oasis’ single, ‘The Importance of Being Idle’. 

The street was also made famous by its appearance in two feature films relating to the life and exploits of London’s notorious Kray twins. The Krays’ famous gang ‘The Firm’ terrorised London in the 1960s, the motto of Kray twins Reginald and Ronnie being, ‘Always shoot to kill, dead men cannot grass’. Number 32 Caradoc Street provided the set for The Krays’ family home ‘Fortress Valance’. By coincidence, number 32 also appears in the second film about the brothers, 2015’s Legend. This time, the house was the family home of Reggie’s first wife, Frances Shea. Their marriage lasted 18 months, culminating in Frances’ tragic suicide, at the age of 23. In real life, the Krays were from Bethnal Green, a little further east, but their main rival gang, the Richardsons, whose outfit went under the apt name of ‘The Torture Gang’, operated in this area. With these gangster-ridden days gone, Caradoc is now a lovely, well maintained street with flower boxes in the windows. 

Address Caradoc Street, London, SE10 9AG  Getting there Tube to North Greenwich (Jubilee Line), then bus 188 or 422 to King William; train to Maze Hill  Tip Greenwich can lay claim to being one of the most popular film locations in the world: take a walk in the university grounds, and you’ll soon be transported to the set of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Queen, and many more.

Italo Svevo’s House

Literary Italy comes to the heart of Charlton

Charlton is full of surprises, and one of the nicest and most unexpected is the blue plaque on the wall of 67 Charlton Church Lane, which remembers the 20th-century Italian writer Italo Svevo – oth- erwise known as ‘Ettore Schmitz’. Schmitz lived here from 1903 to 1913, and briefly again after World War I, when working for an Ital- ian firm owned by his father-in-law. They established a factory in nearby Anchor & Hope Lane, partly to supply anti-corrosive paint for the ships of the Royal Navy, and Svevo was lucky enough to be sent over to south-east London to manage operations.

A native of Trieste, now in north-east Italy but then one of the major ports of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Svevo was a talented writer and a protégé of his English teacher, James Joyce, who famously lived in the city for a while. Joyce promoted Svevo’s best-known work, Confessions of Zeno, which was published when the author was in his 60s. It’s an autobiographical novel that documents the life of a moderately successful Trieste businessman, hilariously following his mis-steps through psychoanalysis, giving up smoking and cheating on his wife. It’s a wry and very modern portrayal of procrastination, inadequacy and misadventure, and is still a terrific read today.

The plaque was installed in 1999 with the Italian ambassador in attendance. Svevo apparently settled into the neighbourhood quite well – despite calling it ‘the drabbest and most out of the way suburb’ – became a fan of the newly-formed Charlton Athletic, and a keen observer of working-class London society. He never really adjusted to life in Britain, however. This was chronicled in letters to his wife, Livia, recently published in This England is So Different, in which he talks of his struggles with the food, weather, and the Lon- don accent. What would he make of the place now? Well at least he’d be able to get a decent cup of coffee!

Address 67 Charlton Church Lane, London, SE7 7AB, www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/ blue-plaques/ettore-schmitz Getting there Train to Charlton; bus 53, 54 or 422 to Charlton Village, then a short walk downhill Hours Always open Tip You can replicate Svevo’s walk to work by strolling down the hill from his house, past the turning to the football ground and across the main road, and continuing down Anchor & Hope Lane to the river. Unlike him, though, you can finish up at the excellent Anchor and Hope pub – a little-known riverside gem.

 Angerstein Foot Crossing 

Stop, Look, Listen 

This unassuming foot crossing, reached via a discreet alleyway between houses, may be unique in London. No wonder that in 2019, when threatened with closure, it became a hot topic. True, it’s a very convenient short-cut and widely used by local commuters to get to Westcombe Park station, but it’s also a symbol of our industrial past. 

John Julius Angerstein was a London businessman born in St. Petersburg, Russia. There is speculation that he was of royal ancestry, but we’ll never know. The fact remains that he arrived in London aged 15, and started a career in finance, later working for Lloyd’s Bank as an underwriter. In 1774, he invested in land in the area now known as Westcombe Park and Greenwich Peninsula, hoping for good returns. This was a shrewd if not long-term investment. Almost a century on, in 1849, once the link between London and the North Kent Railway was completed, it paid off. 

A railway line was needed to connect the mainline to the river to transport heavy goods. It was decided that the track would run across Angerstein’s land. People couldn’t travel the line, only heavy materials from sand to steel and everything in between were transported on the Angerstein narrow gauge railway. As it was a short and private line, building it was straightforward, and soon goods were on their way. The only problem came with getting livestock across. 

Farmworkers called for a right of way for their stock to cross safely; the problem was solved with the Angerstein Foot Crossing. By 1950, the track terminal at Angerstein Wharf was considered too small to handle modern shipping, but it’s still useful for aggregate and other movements of stock. The single-track line is still operational, albeit with fewer trains running. Trainspotters take note: the foot crossing is the only place from which to get an excellent view of this historical railway line.

 Address 32 Farmdale Road, London, SE10 0LS  Getting there Train to Westcombe Park, go to the car park at the rear, and take the bridge over the A2; bus 108, 286, 335 or 422 to Westerdale Road; it’s a little easier from the other side of the footpath: take the alley next to 132 Fairthorn Street  Tip One of the curios of the railway line between Greenwich and Woolwich is the fact that it still has a level crossing at the lower end of Charlton Lane, to allow over 300 trains a day to pass. This is the only level crossing left in Inner London, so the area has not one but two treats for train fans.

The book is fully illustrated, with 111 full-page colour photographs, and was written by local residents Solange Berchemin and Martin Dunford. Solange was born in Lyon, France, and moved to Greenwich with her partner three decades ago, working as a food and travel journalist for some of the major national newspapers and magazines, an international TV channel, and at The Greenwich Visitor. Martin is one of the founders of the international travel guide series Rough Guides, the author of more than 10 guidebooks, and was the publisher of Rough Guides for many years, before going on to found the UK travel and accommodation website www.coolplaces.co.uk. Martin also works as a freelance travel writer, and as a consultant, advising digital businesses on travel content. The book contains numerous colour photographs by Karin Tearle – who is local too. 111 Places in Greenwich That You Shouldn’t Miss, by Solange Berchemin and Martin Dunford (£12.99, published by Emons Verlag) 

Maze Hill Pottery

The future of pottery

In a place fashioned by history, one might not be surprised to walk along the river and see remains of the past such as broken clay pipes, locally manufactured in Plumstead, in the 1800s, by a thriving cottage industry, or fragments of pots and plates. Although such finds do occur, it might not automatically be assumed that the pottery tradi- tion is still alive in the area – yet it is, burning bright with energy thanks to the efforts of Lisa Hammond of Maze Hill Pottery, who keeps the flame alive and the kilns hot.

Lisa’s studio and her two kilns are located in an unassuming cul- de-sac, on the premises of the former railway station’s ticket office. The artist has been described in Ceramic Art Daily as ‘the best woman potter working in Britain’. The ceramicist has worked in Greenwich for the best part of 40 years, first in Royal Hill, and since 1994 in this unusual atelier. Lisa is a soda-firing potter, and her exquisite pieces are made to be handled. This is no show-gallery, it’s a working studio where you’ll see Lisa at her wheel throwing clay. Her calling card pieces find their roots in English medieval pots that influence her functional and tableware items intended for everyday use, and in Japanese Shino glaze pottery with decoration such as Umanome – Horse Eyes – for her personal work.

In 2016, Lisa Hammond was awarded an MBE for services to ceramics. In her own words, she is ‘working for the future of pottery’. On visiting Maze Hill Pottery, you might meet one of her apprentices. Lisa has trained 14 over the past two decades. She also founded a charity called Adopt a Potter, which enables students to work along- side other master potters. And in 2017, she set up Clay College in Stoke to train 14 potters every two years. The initiative aims to curb the decline of ceramics education, and it started in Greenwich, where pottery has been alive since the 16th century.

Address The Old Ticket Office, Woodlands Park Road, London, SE10 9XE, +44 (0)20 8293 0048, www.mazehillpottery.co.uk Getting there Train to Maze Hill, then exit via platform 2 Hours Evening classes four times a week, open by appointment Mon – Fri 10am – 6pm, and open studio once a year; check website for more info Tip If you’re interested in local arts and crafts, head for Creek Road to Made in Greenwich, a shop representing over 70 artists and craftspeople from the borough, selling wares ranging from local honey to ceramics. More info at www.madeingreenwich.shop.