Greenwich – World Heritage [Building] Site Part 1

Greenwich buildings sink under scaffolding (multiple exposure)

A couple of years ago (or more) we were sitting on a bench in Cutty Sark Gardens looking at the broad sweep of the river. An Australian approached us and said “Where can I find the Cutty Sark mate?”

We pointed ironically to the scaffolding and the still smouldering ruins of the boat.

He’d come half way around the world from a remote station in the Australian outback to see the Cutty Sark. More fool him some might say, for not checking his itinerary first.

Two or more years later there is still a pile of scaffolding where the Cutty Sark should be and it is no longer possible to sit on a bench and view the broad sweep of the river. The former because the renovation seems to be taking for ever and rumours abound as to why. There are big sums of money and rapacious consultants involved. The latter because the entire river front is behind hoardings.

And looking round, much of Greenwich town centre is also covered up. It seems to have happened overnight or maybe I just blinked.

I decided to take a walk around town centre and photograph the damage.

St Alfege?

Looking for Hawksmoor? Forget it

Walking out of St Alfege Passage, the first thing you see is more scaffolding above the market

Even the heritage phone boxes are in a poor state, missing doors and glass.

Soooo, lets find the Tourist Office to ask what there is to actually see in Greenwich since we’ve come all this way. Errrr….

Discover Greenwich?

Doesn’t work for me either. Walking down a bit further, it is good to see what we are missing.  Tacky pictures beneath barbed wire and surveillance cameras.

Before, during or after?

Cutty Sark Gardens is full of signs helpfully pointing in all directions

Directions to nothing much

The ‘gardens’ themselves are bleak beyond belief and have been for a long long time. This is not a world-class attraction by any stretch of the imagination. It is also the first sight of Greenwich for anyone disembarking from the ferry.

The long march south

Looking in the opposite direction, this is the ‘view’ across the river. Some poor saps have had to carry their buggy up the steps from the foot tunnel. The lift isn’t working.

We mean foot tunnel

The Old Royal Naval College doesn’t get any better if you want to slip down past the pier

Not the entrance

The views of the river and Canary Wharf just get better…

Canary Wharf

Nice bollard, looks like a ….

The entrance

Once we get to The ORNC things start to get slightly surreal

Uber scaffolding

There are some guys blocking access even as I took photographs

Then came the Pièce de résistance…

I went into the courtyard of Trinity College of Music to take some photos of the scaffolding hidden away even in there. I sat on the bench and loaded a film and a security guy came out but just to play with The Dog rather than order us off the premises. I started taking photos while Kate chatted about dogs with him and then another security guy came out and told me that I couldn’t take photos… He ignored the dog. And his colleague.

“Its the rules” he said, “I don’t make them, its the college’s rules”.

“Security” he replied when asked. I forewent the “I’m a photographer, not a terrorist” meme.

Could I see the rules? “No”.

I’d have to go to the East Gate or the West Gate to get permission to photograph and it was, in his view, doubtful that I would get it.

Naturally, I chose the wrong gate but we got a little closer to the truth. The supervisor at the East Gate reckoned I’d have to go to the West gate for permission. He didn’t have a clue why I shouldn’t be allowed to photograph in the courtyard, but another guy at the gate thought it had “something to do with copyright, innit”. This is far more likely since the place makes loads of money from the film industry using the location for historical shoots. I’m not quite sure how yours truly impacts on Hollywood, but rules are rules.

I couldn’t be arsed to schlep all the way back to the West Gate. I have a sneaking suspicion I would have been referred back to the East gate anyways.

Trinity College of Music – a small suggestion. Brief your security staff properly so they are confident about what they are enforcing. They will be less defensive and less shit scared of ending up on a YouTube video looking and sounding like total dickheads given the current paranoia about filming in public places. At the very least, place a sign somewhere visible saying ‘No Photography’.

What was the big secret? just shitloads of scaffolding.

Rules are rules

So, shoot me…

I’ve had to make this post part 1 of a series. In just two and a half hours I have enough photos to fill several posts. Particularly when you walk down the Thames path a little way. I don’t suppose the average tourist would get that far:

Thames path hi-jacked by developers

Literally, up the garden path. How have they got away with this? The Thames path is now so convoluted with ‘short-term’ closures for ‘improvements’ that you might get more enjoyment walking down the main road approach to the Blackwall Tunnel.

So… for three times the price of a coffee in Deptford, where I can overlook an insanely interesting and vibrant High Street and market, I could do the same in a World Heritage site just down the road. I could take in that olde-worlde town centre full of scaffolding, cladding, tat-shops, fast-food tex-mex outlets, more scaffolding and even more wardens than The Dog could shake a stick at. If only I could see it.

Under wraps

Now why do I think of Christo and Jeanne-Claude…?

Think I’ll stick to Deptford till 2012 has gone. As somebody who lives nearby I can see a dark humour in all of this. As a visitor attraction, Greenwich is currently a massive fail. I hope nobody from UNESCO drops by for vacation. I also hope local people are being employed for all this new work.

 

 

 

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