Painting Peckham and South Kensington ….. 64 years ago

It was in 1959 when Howard Love recorded some of south east London while attending art college.

And knowing that I was born in Lambeth and spent my early years in Peckham he has begun sharing some of his pictures with me, which instantly transport me back.

The first I think is Rye Lane, which I last visited in 1963 when Joans and Higgins still dominated the shopping experience of many, and that model shop on Bleinham Grove under the railway station.

Wandering back down Rye Lane in the December of 2021 is to be confounded by long forgotten memories and a landscape I only barely recognise.

Still despite the departure of Joans and Higgins, I was pleased to see it features in one archive and has its own Facebook site.*

And in the same way Howard’s second picture offers much for some one born in the first half of the last century.

We are in South Kensington Station, circa 1959, with its wooden ticket office, and machines for tickets, when the price of an Underground trip was charged in pennies.

All of which comes with that distinctive smell that enveloped you and was a mix of warm dust, oil.

Leaving me just to thank Howard and Ann Love who happily pass over their art work for me to write about.

And reflect that it's so exciting to view these images of my youth and more importantly in the form of sketches and paintings.

Location; Peckham and South Kensington Station

Pictures; Peckham and South Kensington Station, circa 1959, from the collection of Howard Love

* A peek inside Jones and Higgins, Southwark Heritage Blog, https://southwarkheritage.wordpress.com/2021/02/17/a-peek-inside-jones-and-higgins/