I’ve just been to see the park, where I famously parachuted from the swing. I was being pushed too fast, soaring high into the sky. I asked for my them to stop, but they wouldn’t. Push literally came to shove and it felt like there was no other option: I had to jump swing. I crashed to the ground, picked myself up and moved on. For residents and workers in Silvertown , they are asking a similar question. Is it time to go?
I wander off from the park, which now has a basketball court, with the same hard concrete that broke my fall. As I walk off I see Jay Hastings, 66 and a former caretaker for Newham council. He’s walking his dog. We cross and exchange greetings. As I stand at Albert Road with the park and a stone’s throw away, we meet again. What does he think about Silvertown and how it’s changing? He tells me that that there used to be a lot more factories and that there’s nothing now, that Crossrail is a bit of a pain and Silvertown is changing so much:
“It won’t be the old Cockney area, it will be more middle class”.
Perhaps so. but Silvertown has been in transition for a long time. My family moved here in the Nineties. Rumour had it, that there were 5 children with names all beginning with the letter T. The rumour was true, along with us being one of a handful of black families living in the area. Nearly 25 years later, neighbours have left. The growing English minority hang fewer British flags with the local café and Royal British Legion two of the last battlements. Still, relations are better today than they were in previous years, friends with Jay, Theresa George a black woman in her fifties and a freelance designer is out walking her two dogs. She’s lived in Silvertown for 17 years, and as we talk on the bridge where the construction of Crossrail currently dwells, Theresa George is not happy: “we never win”. She elaborates :
“There’s a lot of people in the area that need work.They say they are going to give work to people in the area and they never do. They always give it to outsiders. “It’s really unfair for local people living in the area. We have to put up with all the mess, all the noise, all the disruption and still we not offered any jobs”
Stuck between the airport and the construction of Crossrail, for Theresa George, a mature student it’s “noise, noise, noise”. In her view,the transport links are not for local people, sceptical about the DLR and Crossrail, she thinks it might be time to leave Silvertown.
“Even though they’ve changed the buildings, it’s still a rough area. They talk about regeneration, but all the regeneration is done around the area rather than within the area, so it’s still not helped the neighbourhood. People are moving out.”
Up the steps,there’s a panoramic view of Silvertown, St Mark’s church, now Brick Lane Music Hall, to the right the uniform maisonettes .There is the new silver flats that sit at the zebra crossing and the corner shops that point the way to North Woolwich. Underneath me the colossal work that is Crossrail, lies like a dried up riverbed and then there’s Tate and Lyle, solid, indomitable. Nigel Durham,56 is a manager at Tate and Lyle, crossing the bridge in a respectable suit he is in a hurry, but stops to share his views on Silvertown.He doesn’t live in the area, but visits for work once a week. For Durham the future looks “bright”. He thinks that Crossrail will bring more small businesses to the area, and believes that the area has already benefitted from the connection between the M25 and A13 I ask if he lives in Newham. He says no, but he has considered it
“Since they extended the DLR down here you’ve had a lot of new flats built. If you go on the DLR all the way from West Silvertown and Canning Town, along the river,they’re all brand new.”
In the past, Durham recalls it was derelict, rat infested and “ literally derelict” Durham, notes the men working on Crossrail. He doesn’t think it will have a huge impact on Tate and Lyle and its position in Silvertown for almost 150 years, but adds that Tate and Lyle has “evolved” over time. He adds:
“I think Silvertown is going to improve with the people moving into the area. I think it will offer the people who already live here and have done- there are a lot of generations who still live here- the opportunity of employment. The people moving into the area, who may not necessarily work in the area, they will still need the local tradesman, they will still need the shops.”
That may well be true, but will the locals stay to serve the new Eastenders?
I take more photographs noting the flats in the distance. I cross the bridge and walk down Factory road. Passing machinery and dodging cars. I see the signTay Wharf 1900, as I cross over to the church I see the painted mural on the wall that shows old Silvertown shops with real store signs hanging from the wall. Walking on, and walking towards me is David Dove, 48, a warehouse man for JEP shipping at the end of Factory Road. He believes that Crossrail will be “good for everybody in the end”. Dove remembers the hesitation over the DLR, and the result now.
He said:“It’s a great service when I am going up to London it’s 20 minutes. It’s on my doorstep, it’s great.”
That’s not to say that transition’s been easy for Dove. He was made redundant as a result of new developments. Dove, recalls the factories that lined the area. They are largely gone now. He’s not bitter “you’ve got to move with the times” but for Dove housing is an issue. He explained:
“The houses they’re putting up are not affordable for local people . I think local people will be pushed out just through house prices alone. The house prices and the rent around here is just phenomenal. Phenomenal”
But even this may have its benefits. Dove, who’s worked in Silvertown for 25 years, will if necessary “sell up and cash in”. He doesn’t feel good about it but he believes it’s something he may have to do. For Dove , Silvertown known for years for its industry is making way for housing “that’s where the money is.” As the conversation draws to a close, Dove talks about further plans for housing . He thinks it will look great in the end, but notes.
“There won’t be any mimimum wage workers in these places. They won’t have a chance.”
For Dove, if his predictions come true, he’s off to the coast- namely,Holland-on-Sea.For me, a local resident I am not ready to go just yet. I have mixed views. I have never desired to stay in Silvertown, always seeing it as more of a stop-over than a permanent residence. A place forgotten and overlooked. But that’s all changing now, and it may well be time to jump.