I love walking in London and I often document street art that I see along the way. Last year, whie walking through Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in SE1 during the first lockdown, I spotted some fascinating murals on a wall at the back of the site.
I returned there for a wander in March this year and was so impressed by the beauty of this tranquil space. As I followed a path documenting a fossil trees trail and heard a variety of birds singing in the trees above me, I felt as though I was walking through woodland, right there in the heart of the city.
There's a beautiful little orchard right next to the wall of murals. From an information plaque in the orchard, I learned that there used to be a children's lido on the site. The first of its kind, it opened in 1938 and was very popular with the public. There's a wonderful image online of the lido in the 1930s, showing just how many people enjoyed going there. Sadly, it fell into disrepair and closed in the 1980s due to lack of funding.
In 2003, the lido was repurposed as a community orchard with funding from Southwark Council and Trees for Cities, planted with native trees from so that local children from diverse backgrounds can see trees and fruits from their native countries. Directly opposite the orchard is an old brick wall that runs the width of the park and this is where the lovely murals are.
The information plaque in the orchard explains that the original murals were renovated in 2012 by artist Andrea Tyrimos. Fascinatingly, however, little is known about when they were actually created. The characters include Peter Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, clowns, Mr Men characters, a kite flying up into the clouds, scenes from nursery rhymes, The Gruffalo and Postman Pat.
Andrea Tyrimos also added some newer characters in 2012, such as Hedwig the Owl from Harry Potter and Finding Nemo.
I find these murals really charming. Here I am, enjoying a second childhood moment by holding hands with The Gruffalo (a strangely comforting feeling) and giving Postman Pat a bit of a telling off (although I'm not quite sure why!)
I would love to know who painted these older murals and when. If anyone has any clues, please do get in touch via my contact page and I will update this blog article.
Links
The park's location in Google Maps
Article in The Guardian about Parliament Hill Lido
#murals #wallmurals #wallpaintings ##geraldinemaryharmsworthpark #bugsbunny #peterrabbit #nurseryrhymes #thegruffalo #postmanpat
Addendum, 19 May 2021
After emailing Robert Elms about the murals, I went onto his show on BBC Radio London this morning as part of his Wednesday Notes and Queries feature.
The mystery started to unravel after several listeners phoned in to say they knew the park in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and the murals were not there then. Towards the end of the programme, Vincent from Waterloo called in and said he used to walk his dog there in the early to mid-1980s and remembered seeing the murals on the wall. He said that particular part of the park was "deeply unloved", with the remains of the lido being a random derelict building, a turnstile and a modesty wall with changing rooms behind it. He remembers there being a pre-school children's playgroup in that area and thinks the wall might have been the only place available to the children to paint on, due to the work going on with the Imperial War Museum building.
I can be heard chatting to Robert at 16 minutes into the programme and Vincent appears at 2 hours 34 minutes (available to listen to for the next 29 days). I'm really grateful to Robert for including the murals on his show. I thoroughly enjoyed finding out that the older ones are around 40 years old. I was also very happy to know that what was a "deeply unloved" area is today a much-loved orchard and woodland tree trail.
Finally, along the way, I have also learned from a report by Played in Britain that the 1930s were the era of lido building, with at least 168 opened during the decade. Only 31 of the lidos built during that decade are still open today.
Blog copyright Barbara Grehs
Published on 17 May 2021
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