The River Neckinger
rises at St George’s Fields
except now it’s called
Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park
and there’s little sign of water
we find a manhole cover
and press our ears to the cool stone
the river is here
but it’s buried deep
Once I lived on Brook Drive
but the river eluded me
now it’s in my dreams
the newsagent
the bread shop
the corner shop
the Two Eagles pub
back in the ‘80s
the Dexys sang Come on Eileen
right here
At the centre of the Elephant and Castle
lies a terrible void
so huge, it’s almost impossible to mention
here in Southwark, as in all London
the land is under constant scrutiny
from the gentrifiers and developers
with their neoliberal agendas
as hoardings replace buildings
we struggle to recall
which part of ourselves
was just cauterised
in this shifting world
Down Meadow Row
the land dips into the
Rockingham Anomaly
ancient
ice age
deposits
of peat
Walking the city
is to internalise the terrain
until we become
almost interchangeable
like Flann O’Brien’s story
of a bicycle intermingling with its rider
our memories
our grasp of the city
merge with its materiality
The demolished estates of Southwark
North Peckham
Willowbrook
Sumner
Camden
Gloucester Grove
Bermondsey Spa
Silwood
Coopers Road
Elmington
Acorn
Heygate
Aylesbury
Tustin
Ledbury
13,000 council homes lost since 1999
De Quincey would navigate his way home
through the tangle of Soho’s streets
fixing his eye on the pole star
seeking ambitiously
for a north-west passage
we too, align our compass north-west
finding our own way home
The River Neckinger
buried, culverted and diverted
through the mud and muck
of north Southwark
to barely a trickle
at St Saviour’s Dock
remains beautiful
in its sublime resistance
we walk the hidden river
to reclaim
this territory
as our own
Beneath The Pavement, The River!
Living in the city is to internalise the terrain until we become almost interchangeable. As hoardings replace buildings, we struggle to recall which part of ourselves was just cauterised in this shifting world. Here in Southwark, as in all London, the land is contested, always under the relentless scrutiny of government, local councils, and property developers as they pursue their neoliberal agendas.
This is an obstinate project, a call to arms to walk the streets. A counteraction to the relentless amnesia of this gentrification. We drift together along the River Neckinger, buried deep beneath the streets as it flows underground from St George’s Fields, under the Elephant and Castle, and on to its confluence with the Thames at St Saviours Dock.
So beautifully not there – buried, culverted, and diverted through the mud and muck of north Southwark to barely a trickle at St Saviours Dock. The river disappoints on many levels but remains beautiful in its sublime resistance. We walk with a compass searching for De Quincy’s fabled northwest passage. Locating what is hidden and buried and what is not seen – but is there, visible in plain sight.