South Circular

Walking towards my daughter.

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I do not think that the South Circular Road could be said to exist at all.

— Sir Richard Sharples

It’s been just over a year since I decided to walk the whole length of London’s A205, otherwise known as the South Circular. I’m not the sort of person who works on projects. I’m normally far too scattershot in my approach to making photographs. Occasionally people ask me to describe my ‘practice’. I normally reply that I don’t have a practice, I just take photographs. I’m not trying to be clever. I just don’t have the discipline to maintain a coherent approach to image making. I also don’t want to impose any kind of system or order on what I do. It doesn’t have a purpose, other than to give me pleasure.

I usually prefer an aimless wander - a dérive. However, partly because I was trying to model a more considered and intentional way of making photographs for my A-level students, last year I decided to attempt a long walk (over several, discontinuous days), making documentary style images along the way.

I live not far from the A205, on the eastern end as it arcs towards Woolwich. The road has a fascinating history. Originally intended to be a new road, beginning south of the Thames at the Woolwich Ferry, money quickly ran out and only the first section from Woolwich to Eltham (and a bit beyond) was ever constructed. After that, the South Circular colonised the existing network, forging a serpentine path across south London towards another meeting with the Thames at Kew.

I began my trip by catching a bus to Woolwich and walking back towards my home, through Eltham. The military history of Woolwich is evident all along the route across the Common and is written into the names of local roads - Bomb Road, Shrapnel Road, Arsenal Road etc. I passed a memorial to a victim of a traffic accident, a motorbike festooned with flowers and messages - “RIP CM” - and a sign that read, “M.O.D. PROPERTY ALL DOGS MUST BE KEPT ON LEAD”.

I suppose the walk could have been a serious attempt to document some of this fascinating history but I realised pretty quickly that I wouldn’t be up to the task. This was going to be like my usual walks but with a clearer destination in mind. Any sociological element would end up in the completed project by accident rather than by design.

The next stage of the trip took me from Eltham to Catford, my local stretch. Tempting as it was to include a photograph of the giant cat, the A205 passes behind the shopping centre and on towards Forest Hill. I began to pay closer attention to text, road signs, graffiti, shop names and banners, especially when they seemed to contain contradictory or ironic messages - an appeal for higher emissions near Wildwood Close or a naked figure showering at St. Mildred’s Garage.

The picture of the painted greyhound near the home of Catford Dogs is one of my favourite from the whole trip. The following week I picked up the trail in Catford and journeyed to Tulse Hill, taking in the increasingly bucolic surroundings of Forest Hill and Dulwich.

One of the only interior shots was made at The Horniman Museum, a jewel in south London’s crown. I just couldn’t resist photographing a couple of ancestors. I was pleased to be able to document the Black Lives Matter hoarding at Honor Oak which has now disappeared. I hope Atget would have approved.

Tulse Hill to Wandsworth was probably the longest walk, at least it felt like it. My feet were beginning to ache and the lack of public toilets was testing my old man’s bladder. Clapham Common offered some welcome respite.

Wandsworth to North Sheen was also a stretch, although made longer by a detour to Roehampton. At the time, my daughter and youngest was completing a dance degree at the university. I decided it would be nice to try to meet her for a catch-up. It dawned on me that the decision to walk the length of the South Circular might have been subconsciously motivated by the need to walk towards her. We’re very close and I love her dearly but I haven’t always been the most useful dad. I can be a bit uncompromising and intractable. It pains me to admit that I fell short a few times when she needed empathy and understanding.

I found her leaving a rehearsal in the dance building and we spent an hour or so chatting, wandering the lovely campus and eating hot dogs in the student union café. I’m sure she didn’t realise the significance of this simple exchange for me. In fact, she looked a bit dumbfounded when I told her I’d walked from Wandsworth to see her. I’m glad I did. It felt like a kind of apology, although I didn’t say this to her. I’m working on that too!

I walked the final leg, from East Sheen to Kew Bridge, with my wife. We were quite alarmed by the looming jets which seemed to brush the rooftops on their way to and from Heathrow, heralded by a gathering growl. North Sheen Cemetery was interesting and the walk through Kew a real delight, despite the slightly sinister gun-shaped detritus in the gutter.

Reaching Kew Bridge and re-connecting with the mighty Thames felt like a real achievement and we celebrated with lunch in a nearby Italian café, watching a couple of canoeists battling the current.

It’s a funny old road, the South Circular. Part designed, part accident. It’s a bit of a mishmash, a hybrid of new and old. It’s very London in this respect. I much prefer it to the imagined overhead motorway that was, at one point, the planners’ answer to growing car ownership. I don’t drive so, prior to this trip, I’d only ever seen it from the passenger seat. People generally hate it for the pollution and congestion, with good reason, and yet it carries lots of fond memories for me. I’m drawn to its shape on a map - a kind of parenthesis turned on its side; a cupped palm or embrace supporting south London. I feel like I know it even better now. It’s personal.

A schematic map of the A205 and the location of my home.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you. I appreciate your indulgence. Reflecting on this trip has made me wonder whether I should attempt something similar. The North Circular doesn’t really appeal; I have no connection with it. Now that I have my over 60s free travel card, though, London is my Oyster!

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