Thanks for posting those very atmospheric shots, Paul. I've never walked around there and I don't know the back story, but from your picturesI thought it looked a nice place to live, with all that breathing space and running around room for children to play within sight of the houses. I could almost hear the sounds of playing children.
I assume these were family homes? It's sad to see it all so abandoned. I wonder what became of the people who lived there?
I know I'll be told this isn't the thread to say it, but it seems a shame to me that something on a similar scale and ethos can't be built there ... or just those houses be renovated. In a few years we could look back on that site in the same way we feel about what's happened to many of the old lost terraces of sydenham, now in some cases replaced by scummy unloved estates.
It was a strange experience walking around this site. This was my second visit. The opening image was made on my first visit but I lost the rest of those images in a software accident. They were all shot on pro gear and I was going to submit them all to my agency.
When I went back I was compelled, for some reason, to make the pictures with my smart phone. Not sure why.
I too could hear all kinds of sounds in my imagination as I meandered about the place, children, bits of imagined conversations, sound of footballs hitting the back of the goal net and that sort of thing. But I stood still too to listen to the utter silence of abandonment until a bird would interrupt my thoughts and bring me back to the task in hand.
I gather this site will be developed as a housing estate. I cannot remember the details but some will be affordable housing.
