The image appears in a Camberwell Book of Photographs dated 1906, put together by Camberwell Borough Council, and now part of Southwark Archives, with the reference RES OS 942.1642. The full story of the construction can be found on our page on the Bridge here.

The photograph is taken from on top of a building on the north side of the canal, looking across to the houses on St George’s Way (just visible on the left). The building would have been the sheepskin/fleece factory of Strong and Rawle at that time. This section of the canal has clearly been drained to aid the construction, with a lighter (barge) placed underneath, presumably to allow access over the otherwise muddy canal bed.

Did you spot the two gents standing on boards on the side of the bridge? Presumably working on the bridge, nevertheless they have turned out very smartly for the photographer, in suit and tie! Or perhaps they’re foremen, or one of them is even the Borough Engineer, William Oxtoby, who designed the bridge.

Enhanced image:

Southwark Council had to make the difficult decision to demolish or retain and renovate the bridge. Just leaving it to further deteriorate was not an option. Thankfully, following a survey of the condition in 2021, they decided on repair and renovation. For those of us interested in the heritage of the park, that was the Right Decision!

The survey revealed a few areas of deterioration, leading to potential health and safety concerns, and a list of repairs was drawn up:

• Remove and replace footways on the bridge deck
• Carry out replacement or repair of deteriorated transverse and parapet beams
• Replace existing spreader beams
• Break out eroded brickwork on the south abutment and replace with matching new
• Supply and install new concrete coping stones along top of existing wall
• Repair all cracks in existing brickwork and pointing
• Sandblast all metal parts and re-paint to original colour

Work started in April 2023, and was scheduled for 3 months at a cost of £323,553, sadly around 100 times the original cost of the bridge in 1905! But it’s a thorough job and it’s now looking really smart. All the TLC  should ensure that this great symbol of Burgess Park survives well into the 21^st century. AND, we won’t need to change the name of this website!

Read more about the history of the building of the bridge on our dedicated page.

Stop Press!

The bridge is now open to pedestrians! Check the news here.

Art in the Park, based here in Burgess Park, have launched a new project to find out from those old enough to remember, more about some of the places which used to exist in and around the Park, and permanently mark them. They’ve already had some fascinating visits and talks, and have collected some great recordings of local memories.

Check out the project – called A Place to Remember – and see if you can contribute or learn more. Or develop your artistic side and contribute ideas for Markers for these places!

So far they’ve worked on 4 places in the Walworth area – two of which were or still are in the Park – North Camberwell Radical Club and the New Peckham Mosque, formerly St Mark’s church, Camberwell. There’re some fantastic interviews on the website and images to check out.

The Radical Club ran for around 100 years and was on the northern edge of the park near the lake, fronting onto Albany Road. Art in the Park are organising open sessions for people to contribute to the design for a marker for the Radical club on Tuesday 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th November 2016 from 11-1pm at the Art in the Park studio.

Listen to a SoundArt piece by Jane Higginbottom on the Radical Club, featuring modern sounds from the park, with local peoples’ memories of the club.

Art In the Park are still open to suggestions for other markers in the Park. Do check out the Marking Places page, and contact them to see how you can share ideas and get involved, or come along  on Tuesday 17th, 24th, 31st  January, 7th, 21st, 28th February 2017 to Waterside Care Home, 40 Sumner Road, SE15.

Suggestions so far include:

• The Cold Storage Depot that used to sit across the Old Kent Road entrance.
• The corner of then Calmington Road and Albany Rd, remembering people killed and injured in the First World War Zeppelin Raid  – replacing a previous plaque placed in 1927
• Gilros Sheepskin Factory
• The Bible Factory
• The Foundry
• R Whites factories
• Bus Depot