IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Ash Avenue, LONDON, SE17 1HS

Demolition of this large housing estate in South London is well under way. What is seen here is the remains of one of several large blocks such as the one illustrated in Image The Strata Tower in the background shows the sort of new housing that is replacing these post-war estates.

The derelict or near derelict estate was awaiting demolition, a controversial decision by the local council as the buildings were structurally sound and 3000 people had to be displaced. Not all went willingly, some were evicted some time after this view. There is vegetable plot here presumably tended by a hanger-on.

Built in area of high rise council housing.

The estate was being prepared for demolition and almost everybody had moved out. In situations like this 'eerie' is the obligatory adjective. A few diehards were holding out, including perhaps the green-fingered occupants of this flat. Either another monument to 1960s idealism doomed by modern tastes (now everything must glitter, concrete's just too grey - boring) and/or a mercenary council, or another concrete hell-hole past its sell-by date. Take your pick. Although planned during the previous decade, the Heygate's 1,200 flats were built in 1970-74. The four vast concrete blocks forming the perimeter are certainly forbidding ("impressive from a distance" wrote Pevsner), but the inside is surprisingly green and the spacious flats meant that for a time it was not an unpopular place to live. Later it fell victim to the usual blights and Southwark Council are, perhaps unnecessarily, demolishing the whole lot. They started earlier this year but it will take several years to finish the job. Old communities will vanish and it seems likely that most of the old occupants will be priced out of the new development.

A rear view from the Heygate Estate. It fronts the New Kent Road.

The Heygate Estate, completed 1974, is being demolished and redeveloped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heygate_Estate http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/11/look-heygate-estate-whats-wrong-londons-housing

The Heygate Estate, completed 1974, is being demolished and redeveloped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heygate_Estate http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/11/look-heygate-estate-whats-wrong-londons-housing

The Heygate Estate, completed 1974, is being demolished and redeveloped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heygate_Estate http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/11/look-heygate-estate-whats-wrong-londons-housing Through the gap is a glimpse of the Strata Tower at Elephant & Castle, another area of Southwark being redeveloped.

The derelict or near derelict estate was awaiting demolition, a controversial decision by the local council as the buildings were structurally sound and 3000 people had to be displaced.

On the left is the northern perimeter block. Either another monument to 1960s idealism doomed by modern tastes (now everything must glitter, concrete's just too grey - boring) and/or a mercenary council, or another concrete hell-hole past its sell-by date. Take your pick. Although planned during the previous decade, the Heygate's 1,200 flats were built in 1970-74. The four vast concrete blocks forming the perimeter are certainly forbidding ("impressive from a distance" wrote Pevsner), but the inside is surprisingly green and the spacious flats meant that for a time it was not an unpopular place to live. Later it fell victim to the usual blights and Southwark Council are, perhaps unnecessarily, demolishing the whole lot. They started earlier this year but it will take several years to finish the job. Old communities will vanish and it seems likely that most of the old occupants will be priced out of the new development.