A Walk Around New Bermondsey – 8th February 2022
I took these pictures as I walked around Millwall’s Football Ground to the site of New Bermondsey and then on to South Bermondsey station to get the train to London Bridge.
These are my thoughts.
New Bermondsey Development
In Housing Development Next To Planned Overground Station Gets Approved, I used this description of the development from this article on Ian Visits.
The development, New Bermondsey, will see a cluster of residential towers built around the Millwall football ground on former light industrial sites, and will provide some 3,500 homes, a new sports facility, auditorium with 800 seats, and it’s said some 1,250 jobs. The towers vary in height across the site from 13 – 44 storeys; most towers are around 29/30 storeys.
Ian’s article also shows a visualisation with nineteen towers and some shorter blocks.
The development has a web site, which has a video on the home page.
Car Parking
I have gone through the New Bermondsey web site and the only mentions of parking are in these two statements, which describe the basement.
- Allocation for move in and out bays for vans.
- Secure residents’ cycle parking.
Does this mean that no car parking spaces are provided?
This article on LondonReconnections is entitled Canal Knowledge: The Fall and Rise of Surrey Canal Road Station.
One of the comments says this about parking around the station.
The permission for this development includes zero car parking provision, and a restriction preventing the granting of street parking permits. Such a restriction has been common in the “skyscraper zone” of the Isle of Dogs for many years but I suspect is a fairly novel stipulation in other boroughs.
It does appear that those living in the New Bermondsey development will have to live car-free.
New Bermondsey Station
New Bermondsey station appears to be an empty concrete shell, that just needs fitting out with stairs and/or lifts, entrances/exits, ticketing and platforms alongside the line.
- The London Overground started running in December 2012 over the bridge.
- Wikipedia says it will be an accessible station.
- It probably needs to be an accessible station, if no car parking is provided in the development.
- The article on LondonReconnections confirms that lifts will be fitted from opening date.
- There are hints on the Internet, that the station will open before substantial development happens in the area.
I would hope that the station wouldn’t take too long to finish.
South Bermondsey Station
South Bermondsey Station is at the other end of the development and it is a station that needs improvement.
- I used it today and there are lots of stairs to the platforms.
- As with New Bermondsey station, it needs to be made step-free.
- It is also a cold, draughty station and needs a few shelters.
But it could be made into a much better station to serve Millwall Football Club.
Millwall Football Club
Millwall Football Club appear to have plans for the future and the New Bermondsey development will probably make access to the ground more difficult.
But it will have two stations close by, instead of one.
Traffic
There were roadworks in the area and that partly explains the crowded roads.
But will the road network be able to cope with construction traffic generated by the development?
At least the residents won’t have any cars of their own.
Conclusion
I hope this development works as it will create 3,500 much-needed homes, but will the absence of car parking in the development mean that many won’t want to move there?
Housing Development Next To Planned Overground Station Gets Approved
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on IanVisits.
This paragraph describes the development.
The development, New Bermondsey, will see a cluster of residential towers built around the Millwall football ground on former light industrial sites, and will provide some 3,500 homes, a new sports facility, auditorium with 800 seats, and it’s said some 1,250 jobs. The towers vary in height across the site from 13 – 44 storeys; most towers are around 29/30 storeys.
The Overground station is New Bermondsey station, which was originally to be called Surrey Canal Road station.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note.
- The railway going down the East side of the map in the South London Line of the London Overground.
- The railway going round the West side of the map is the National Rail line going through South Bermondsey station to London Bridge.
- The two lines meet at Queens Road Peckham station to the South.
- Surrey Canal Road runs East-West across the map to the South of The Den.
- New Bermondsey station will be where Surrey Canal Road crosses under the London Overground.
- Most of the new housing will be clustered along this road and around the football ground.
The development will be convenient for Millwall supporters.
The Millwall Path
This path wasn’t here, the last time I walked this way. So I had to explore.
It eventually led to South Bermondsey station.
I think that this could become a popular walking route, as it links up to the path I took from Surrey Quays station, that goes to the still-to-br-built New Bermondsey station and on to Queens Road Peckham station.
It would appear that there is the possibility of opening another path through the arches close to the Millwall Path.
This would probably.
- Give good walking and cycling access between the development between the railway lines of the dive-under and South Bermondsey station.
- Open up more uses for the land between and the buildings under the dive-under.
- Create a direct walking route between the Surrey Quays area and Millwall Football Ground.
I think the whole area could make a very good designer shopping outlet or perhaps a high-technology or design cluster, as there are stations at each of the three corners of the site.
It is certainly a site with possibilities!
Would This Be The Easiest Station To Build In The UK?
Provision was made for Surrey Canal Road station when Phase 2 of the East London Line Extension was built a few years ago.
The pictures show that the work to create a new station wouldn’t be too great. They have decided to rename it to New Bermondsey station. The new station is close to Millwall FC as this Google Earth image shows.
Millwall FC And New Bermondsey Station
The station is in the bottom right-hand corner of the image, where the railway crosses Surrey Canal Road and construction could start this year.
Match Twenty-Six – Millwall 1 – Ipswich 3
This was an unusual match for me, in that I went both ways between my house and The Den, by using a single bus and a couple of walks to the stops. Admittedly the walk at the Millwall end was longer at fifteen minutes, than the couple or so, it takes to get to the stop for the 21 bus at my house.
When I was at Liverpool University, I may have taken a bus to and from Liverpool or Everton from my first year digs in Huyton, but I can’t think of any other instance in my life. I have gone to both Leyton Orient and Charlton totally by bus, but for those grounds, I did have to change. I took these pictures on my journey and at the match.
As to the match, it wasn’t very exciting and since the last meeting between the clubs, Millwall seemed today to have made no progress. They did lose both matches by two goals as well.
Ipswich’s third goal summed up Millwall. The ball was flicked to Jonathan Parr and he proceeded to run across the Millwall goal with it, just outside the penalty area. No attempt was made by the Millwall defenders to close him down, so he tried a shot, which he aimed just inside the post. It went in and looked to be a classy finish. But he shouldn’t have been able to have the shot.
Match Six – Ipswich 2 – Millwall 0
Town got their second win of the season and the match was again lit up, by a sparkling display from the eighteen-year-old Teddy Bishop. He combined well with McGoldrick and their joint persistence made the first goal.
Walking to the ground from the station is easy at Ipswich, especially as you can see the ground virtually all the way and there are several maps. But surely those near the ground, should show the layout of the stadium to ease the walks of supporters and visitors.
History But No Stand Information
But at least Ipswich has got maps, which is more that can be said for most large cities and towns.
Millwall have a bad reputation for fan behaviour, but on the way home, I was sat with three fans and they were just phlegmatic about their teams performance.
The police told me, that they’d just had a nice trip to the country.
Lost In Millwall
I usually like going to the New Den to see a football match, as to get from Dalston Junction station to the ground is simple and it is a stadium with good viewing.
I knew that going yesterday wasn’t going to be easy, as South Bermondsey station, which is connected to the ground by a walkway was closed due to engineering works.
So I went the way I usually go, which is to take the Overground to Canada Water station and then get one of the single-decker buses to a stop named Millwall FC.
The bus was full, but the usually-friendly Millwall supporters were not bothering me. Sometimes, I think that their reputation is worse than the reality. But I arrived at the ground, as I intended, a few minutes before kick-off.
It should be said, that London’s talking buses make it easy to find your way in strange parts of London. Other cities should follow the example.
The match was probably Ipswich’s worst display of the season, with the spark of the previous Championship encounter against QPR completely missing. The only positive thing to say, is that Millwall played well enough to stay up, so that should be another easy away game to get to, next season.
After the match, my normal route home via South Bermondsey and London Bridge stations was not on, so I decided to walk to TfL’s recommended alternative of Surrey Quays station.
I got lost, as there were no maps in this part of London. Where I live in Hackney, there are liths and maps all over the place.
So in the end I got to the station by walking in a great circle.
As I suspect the works at South Bermondsey will be going for some time, something needs to be done.
The Stand Says It All
At Millwall yesterday, we sat in the North Stand and could see this on the top of the stand opposite.
The Stand Says It All
Cold Blow Lane was the location and name of the old Den.
However, yesterday it would have been an ideal name for their current ground. Look at these flags on the East Stand.
Stiff Flags In A Cold East Wind
They are standing out ram-rob straight right across the pitch due to the biting easterly wind.
If you look at the shape of the roof, it might even act like a wing and create all sorts of vortices and downdraughts.
Whatever though, the cold and wind ruined the match.
For a lot of the time, play was consistently in front of the West stand, as the ball was blown across, with long sequences of throws-in. Passing was awful on both sides and the match is summed up by the score, as no-one seemed to be able to get a decent shot on goal.
Ipswich nearly scored an unusual goal. This is from the BBC report.
But Ipswich, themselves unbeaten in three games, came back into the match and nearly took a bizarre lead when Forde’s poor clearance fell to Hyam, whose 50-yard lob was headed clear by Millwall defender Mark Beevers.
Until, this point, Town were playing extremely badly and every clearance seemed to go to Millwall.
After the match, I talked to a couple of Millwall supporters. They said that they’d had several matches like this and this was the fourth goal-less draw. They all said that the pitch was rock hard, hence the watering at half-time.
Cricket may have Rain Stopped Play, but Millwall seem to have other weather related problems.
The match may have cost me only £17, but I would have enjoyed myself more if I gone to bed for the afternoon.
Getting To Millwall
I like going to see Ipswich play at Millwall.
The New Den is a compact ground, where away supporters get a good view of the action. In fact, as the view is one of the best, the stewards are generally friendly and it is an easy ground to get to by public transport, it is one of the best away experiences in English football, if you support a reputable club.
It is also exceedingly good value, as my senior ticket cost just £17 and of course because of my Freedom Pass, I had no travel costs. So my total expenditure was much the same cost as taking a lady to the cinema. Although in that case, I’d probably have to buy a drink or even a meal!
I went by taking the Overground to Canada Water station, from where I got a P12 bus directly to the ground. Even though, these buses are every 20 minutes on a Bank Holiday, I still did the journey in just over thirty minutes.
Coming back, I walked to South Bermondsey station and took the train to London Bridge, from where I got a 141 bus home.
wikipedia also says that a 21 bus goes close to the New Den, so as it goes past the end of my road, I might try that next year. You get off at Ilderton Road.
It certainly is the easiest ground for me to get to, with the probable exception of Arsenal’s ground at The Emirates. But that would cost a lot more for a match.
The Meerkats Drove Me Out
I was going to Millwall to see Ipswich play today, but as ever, I was on the drag.
Then one of those awful meerkat adverts came on the television.
i was through the door like a rat up a drainpipe.
The Anonymous Widower 