Saturday, 12 October 2024

The shock of the new ………… Genesta Road

Now I have always liked those smallish terraced houses which are a feature of south east London.

But these four which break the mould, appeal to me.

They are on Genesta Road, just down from Plum Lane, opposite Plumcroft Primary School.

And not for the first time I have to reflect that living in Manchester makes it just that bit more difficult to pursue a story, because there is only so much you can do online, before it becomes necessary to resort to a visit to the local heritage centre, which for me would involve setting aside a couple of days.

So, until someone comes forward with some information, I am left to wonder about when they were built.

They may be the result of infill after bomb damage during the last war.  I did also think that perhaps the plot had never been built on but given that the rest of the road is dominated by those terraced houses, which while they differ slightly in their design are much of a muchness.

Either way the four are a bold statement with some interesting features, like the balconies, and the garages.

I am grateful to John King for sharing the picture and I am always pleased when he posts images from south east London, because they are always interesting.

And that is all I am going to say and shall just wait for someone to comment.

And within less than hour of posting the story, people have helped me out.  Debbie Sullivan provided me a link to a site on Modern Housing, and Phil Clarkstone found a reference to our four on Wikipedia.*

Now as everyone knows I don’t as a rule rip off other people’s research, so I suggest you follow the link to read more about 85-91 Genesta Road, leaving me just to say that they were built in 1934, and were indeed infill, taking the place of an orchard.

So, that really is it, I think.  I shall close with a thank you to John who took the picture and to Debbie and Phil, reflecting on that simple observation that history should always be a shared project.

Location; Plumstead

Picture; Genesta Road, 2019, from the collection of John King

**85-91 Genesta Road, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/85%E2%80%9391_Genesta_Road?fbclid=IwAR3PODqYgmLbF7_R4rlTXC6kofyRL59byLDfB9WQZafU8PlgBs_-PuQTYlI

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