Collecting Penge

Corali Houlton: Snapshots of a London Suburb

This book is dedicated to the best pengeite of them all.

This book is the result of a years worth of wanderings through Penge, my adopted hometown in South East London, taking pictures, attending community events and meeting old residents. The word ‘collecting’ is in pertinent use here, as a description not only of the literal, ‘postcard’ nature of the photographs inside, but also as a nostalgic reminder that shops, business and historical monuments won’t be around forever, especially with the growing generation of Greater London. It also describes the coming together of people, of gatherings, community values and events that mean so much to the locals of Penge and the strong, sustainable economy we live in.

These images represent the Penge that I stumbled across, adored and needed to document, to stor at home like keepsakes, like snapshots of loved ones in a family album. They are a flavour of Penge, a sounding out, a meandering testament to a unique and special place, through the fresh eyes of a new kid on the block.

Town Sign, High Street, April 2016

Lissone Alexandra Nurseries, Parish lane, December 2016

Melgar Boating Lake, Crystal Palace Park, April 2016

Spring time, Holy Trinity Church, April 2016

Sunday, Crystal Palace Park, April 2016

Penge Food Assembly, Goldsmiths Arms, March 2016,
Penge’s assembly was the most successful opening week of
the Food Assembly movement anywhere in the UK

Hollywood East, Station Road, November 2015
Penge once boasted 100 pubs to a square mile, now there are about 20

Penge Fete, Royston Field, June 2015.
The Penge Fete is the culmination of the Penge Festival, held each summer.

View towards the high street from Deverill Court, April 2016
The view from the 9th floor shows Royston Field, the Mason’s Lodge in the bottom left, and the distance to London with Canary Wharf on the horizon