Panorama from Tanner St

Panorama made in 1999 with Guy's Hospital the tallest building. How things have changed.

In the Printers Yard

West 180, Block K. ©Niall Connolly

Standing on the terrace of Block K quite recently, I wished that I had thought to make more panoramas of Bermondsey 'back in the day'. This panorama, looking generally west from Block K, would have looked dramatically different were you able to see the same view in, say, 1998. Large chunks of what is visible today simply didn't exist even 10 years ago.

The only two 'original' buildings in this view are on the extreme edges of the image. On the far left there is McNeill's warehouse with the white glazed brickwork and, on the far right, the lower (original) part of the building was the home of Sangorski&Sutcliffe and Zaehnsdorf, one of Britain's foremost bookbinders.

Blue Lion Court on Long Lane

Originally a cheque clearing operation for one of the major banks, Blue Lion Court was bought by one of the 'new wave' developers in the mid 1990s. Terry Pomroy of Callington Estates was one of the earliest developers to come into Bermondsey and look to use the live/work approach to move otherwise empty buildings into development. Callington's first building was Gemini House where the initial application was rejected by the planners and then rejigged around live/work to gain planning approval.

Callington developed 4 Tanner St and also bought Blue Lion Court, achieving a successful planning approval and sold the project on.

Blue Lion Court prior to its redevelopment ©Niall Connolly

Interior view in Blue Lion Court ©Niall Connolly

Interior view in Blue Lion Court ©Niall Connolly

The panorama below was made standing on the fire escape on the north elevation of Blue Lion Court. At the time of making the panorama, none of the major developments had taken place. The Rankins building is in the process of being redeveloped as is the Guidelines Stores building but the GIFCO building is unchanged as is Bickel's Yard. In the foreground of the panorama is the RECALL building, now occupied by the White Cube Gallery.

North 180 from Lion Court ©Niall Connolly

Tanner St and perambulators

5&7 Tanner St as pictured from Tanner St park in 1957 prior to the building being purchased by George Hine & Sons. Photographer unknown.  

No's 3, 5 & 7 Tanner Street were built around 1838 (in a style possibly influenced by Telford who was working at St Catherine's Dock) as one building but used, until 1888, as three separate commercial premises. In 1888 the building was purchased by the Simmons Company, makers of perambulators, mail carts and stretchers. Simmons later purchased No.1 Tanner St and connected the four buildings together for different aspects of their production. No.1 Tanner St was used for painting and finishing and No.3 was the location of the forge where Simmons produced their patented carriage springs.

Simmons failed to become involved in the war effort and their production methods were overtaken by other manufacturers, notably Silver Cross. By 1952 Simmons were selling No.1 Tanner St and the company finally closed its doors in 1959. George Hine & Sons purchased and refurbished No's 5 & 7, removing the arched heads to the loading bays and the infill detailing.  No 3 remained, largely unchanged, in the Simmons family and was used in the production of military uniforms and then flags and banners till the mid-1980s.

In 1986, No.3 was purchased by Niall Connolly & Belinda Magee who undertook the first English Heritage renovation in the area. Whilst the loading cranes and chimneys had been removed by 1960, the refurbishment of No.3 saw the reconstruction of the left hand chimney (to dimensions provided by this photograph) and the reinstatement of the warehouse crane.

Simmons staff pictured outside No.1 Tanner St (1950s?). Photographer unknown.

The man circled in this photograph was 'Bill' and his surname has escaped my records. When I started on the renovation of No.3 Tanner Street, a source of tools was Bickels who were leatherworkers located on Bermondsey St. In casual in conversation with the two elderly gentlemen who ran the Bickels trade counter, it transpired that Bill had worked for the Simmons Co and he had some photographs of the staff. Bill is circled in the photo above.

Simmons staff photo before an outing. Photographer unknown.

Bill was unable to provide any specific dates for the events shown in these photographs but this is a large group photograph taken outside No.3 Tanner St, possibly in the late 1930s

This is the staff outing pictured somewhere in the countryside. Photographer unknown. 

Again, it is difficult to date but I suspect that this photo was made in the later years of the Simmons Co as there are fewer staff in the photograph, possibly indicating the company's decline. What is of interest is the gentleman to the far right of the picture who seems to be wearing a dress.

A group of women workers seated in an example of Simmons' product. Photographer unknown.

The Simmons Company was highly regarded in its day and Bill told me that the company had produced baby carriages for Prince Charles and Princess Anne although I have never seen confirmation of that claim. What was true was that in the late 1980s, before No.1 Tanner Street was redeveloped as offices, it was still possible to see the 'walkway' which was installed in the upper floors of that building. The baby carriages were pushed along this elevated walkway allowing the foreman to inspect the paintwork and the smooth running of the wheels and spring mechanisms.