SIXTY
Richard Louv
The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need
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The park is small; I can see both ends as I sit on a bench in the middle. Long and thing, the Queens Road Peckham railway line runs to the right side of the park. In front of me sits terraced houses strangely decorative for Peckham. Scalloped edges sit above the front windows. Powered pastel blue. Behind me sits a very different setting, brown Southwark branding ats – no character and no personality. The gardens are bare and lack a sense of ownership, whereas the other side
Bright with a cold breeze. Prawn mayo sandwich, a bag of squares crisps and a bottle of Sunny D.
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boasts shrubbery and greenery ďŹ ghting to see who can stand tallest. The stairs lead up to the front door all in a matching shade. Tower blocks in the distance not too far. Lined by pale yellow, balconies burst out from the side, reminiscent of the Barbican Towers, with a much softer edge. Under the train tracks lie bright purple arches. It seems colour is strong here and brightens what would usually be considered an intimidating area. The play park sits on the left, yellow gates guarding the entrance.
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BROWN. The sun has disappeared and the wind is slowly picking up. It is cold. A small tan terrier has joined me in the park, pink diamonte collar. The owner is an old man with a deep chesty cough – no pink diamonds for him. Brown shoes, green socks, hat and stern face.
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15:35
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15:36
171 to Bellingham bus garage.
Ambulance siren. Pigeons fly to the right side of the park. Unmarked police car with sirens. Pigeons fly to the left. The sun has now broken past the clouds.
A man hunched at the neck and dressed head to toe in beige.
A 176 bus 35 to Clapham Common 45 to Clapham Park.
Not a lot is happening - most interesting is the goings on outside of the fence.
Intermittent sunshine; fairly warm. The park sits on the corner of a busy crossroads. One flowerbed with a layer of purple. A lady dressed in blue and white stripes sat reading her paper in the wind with her food shopping. Surrounded by pigeons flying back and forth on the green. A man in a blue Nike top. Hoop earring in his right ear.
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42. Always a smaller single deck bus.
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Pigeons to the left. Man in puffa coat and backwards red cap.
12:10 Lady with shopping still there. Man and can still next to me. Pigeons are on the right, the sun has gone in and the wind has picked up. Sun back out. Red Big K lorry. ‘Restaurant grade charcoal’
A man sits on my bench and he’s cracked open a can of beer concealed in a black carrier bag. Reads a paper.
12, 468, 135 all headed away from Camberwell. It’s 11:44
The woman with her shopping looks frustrated by the pigeons, flapping her coke bottle at them and stamping her feet.
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15:39
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15:40
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15:41
‘WHAT A GOALLL’
Louder than most as there is a kids playground/ football cage and posts. The terrain is hilly with a wooden playground on top. This swing has one of the only colours that isn’t green or wooden. Behind it sits a see saw, with yellow handles to hold on to and two red posts resting in the centre. A woman in a mint green cardigan and pale yellow trousers runs along with a baby following excitedly behind. White football posts give a strong frame against the green mature trees at the back of the park.
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Green grass, green trees, even PARK theNAME metal on the balconies are green.
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A park here would usually be intimidating to sit in, surrounded by three storey Southwark council houses the children bring it to life and you get a glimpse that South London can often be misconceived. Four girls play on the swing screaming that the other is pushing the other too high. A child appears, no old than sixteen in a well tailored navy blue suit and shirt. Shoes to match and everything. He tells one child to get in and then joins the girls pushing
On the hill of the wooden playground equipment tree trunks lie deliberately piled ready for children to clamber and climb and fall off of.
them on the swing higher
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15:45
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15:46
Started at the station walking along the old ruins. Two sphinx to the left of the vast front of the palace. Walk straight down through across the national sports centre.
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The dinosaurs here stand majestic in the centre of the water. Untouchable yet only approachable by the well heard wildlife.
Ducks in between. Mosaic-ed patterned textures Quack. Quack. Son and father day? Curves of necks, length of noses – textures.
Path is rubbled through and down the steps. Walking school bus have been walking through for two minutes. Stanley has lost his buddy and a mother duck has left her duckling. A big dinosaur stands over there. Royal blue jumpers, roughly 5/6? Headed to the park. [Dinosaur facing away]
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The waterfall calms the area; man-made of course its composition resembles a Jurassic Park movie. As I sit down and look at the dinosaurs for longer it’s evident the sports centre behind bares a slight resemblance to a Stegosaurus’ back with its spikes. The park is vast but this is only one small segment of the park but this area is unusual and it seems the only other place you’d see dinosaurs this big is the Natural History Museum.
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15:50
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15:51
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15:52
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From walking round the park before sitting down this appears to be much more of a ‘get fit’ kind of park. Gym equipment aplenty (not that any of it looks like what it’s meant to) Metre markers on the ground so runners know how far. Football goalposts and an extensive children’s play park.
Park is significantly busy. Arrive at cafe 15:29. Five bins. One ice cream shaped into a fab two others advertising KitKats and Walls. A pigeon wrestling with a snack-a-jack. Five families sitting on the grass enjoying the sunshine. Man in eye gear and a leaf blower strapped to his back. Large area of orange posted netting cherishing the fresh soil unearthed within.
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Half of which is sealed off, two high vis guys wandering in the exclusion zone neatening up the fresh site for the kids to go.
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Sculptures across from cafe. Continuous line, never stops.
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15 56
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15:57
Man on bike has ridden back and forth around the park a few times now. Not sure how to feel. A great contrast from the previous park of screaming childing having fun. At the end of the ‘park’ sits a primary school, framed by two huge metal 3D trees – a stark continuation of the lack of green space.
A water fountain sits next to the bench, blocked and overflowing. Trickling over the edge, I wonder if people drink from it.
‘Gardens.’ The gardens lack green space and resembles more of a dusty desert. All the equipment is stainless steel, metal and silver.
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Two children play on the merry-go-round, one girl slightly older than the younger boy he is playing with. This park leaves nothing to the imagination and resembles a moon landing with metallic furniture and baron landscape. A man has approached asking for directions to Boulter House, apparently only round the corner from where I am sat. He seemed shocked to see a smart phone, so much so he even thought to tell the person he was on the phone to (and who was obviously waiting for him to arrive!)
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Two children play on the merry-go-round, one girl slightly older than the younger boy he is playing with. This park leaves nothing to the imagination and resembles a moon landing with metallic furniture and baron landscape. A man has approached asking for directions to Boulter House, apparently only round the corner from where I am sat. He seemed shocked to see a smart phone, so much so he even thought to tell the person he was on the phone to.
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16:01
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16:02
After walking round the park it appears to be more of a construction site than a peaceful park. The sound of pneumatic/hydraulic drills runs through and from where I am sat (close to the basketball court) there appears to be three separate building sites. The park is relatively big, with various buildings dotted about. A toilet, case, sheltered seating. The structures are old and compact all with a colouring of brown and white. A shady group of people gather under one of the less maintained huts – looking like they have nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon.
Sunny with a breeze.
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‘Played London Bridge is falling down dressed as a punk with one finger’ PARK NAME
The park is separated into fields, lined with trees that sit taller than the buildings outside the gates. Four pushchairs and parents. One man sat down with his bench. A large man in large stripes on the phone. High vis head to toe with a white hard hat.
‘You didn’t need to choose a seat for a KitKat’
Hot chocolate £2.30
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Said monster truck is actually the chipper.
16:06
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16:07
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Behind sits some trees which continue to rustle, whether by bird or dog (rottweiler) or wind it puts me on edge. The sun is gone now, hidden behind a mass of cloud where it’ll stay for the rest of the evening.
The park is very empty. The only things are the birds and the few people sat on the benches throughout. There isn’t alot to this park. A childs playground, some outdoor wooden frames to climb and flower beds. Two springed horses sit next to the bed, considerably out of place on their large blue and red cobble lined discs on the ground. The horses resemble carousel, the fading paintwork too.
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16:07
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16:12
After getting lost various times around Kennington, I have arrived at Pasley Park. Modest in size it sits about ďŹ ve minutes form Kennington station. To the entrance is Walworth Garden Farm bursting with owers and all things green. A lady walks round with her dog, he jumps on the benches for a rest whilst she walks on.
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Ice cream van. Rock and blue metal. Planes overhead. The couple sat across lie feeding the pigeons. Schools out, the red uniforms run by one by one.
The wind travels across the sand in the far corner and creates a mini tornado of dust that carries itself across the top of the hill.
The lady with the dog walks round and I notice that she is picking up and rubbish that she can see. Obviously a regular it’s refreshing to see a member of the public removing the rubbish and not adding to it like most folk do. It seems that maybe that’s what’s missing. These parks are situated in communities and maybe it’s their voices that need to be heard.
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Kids with ice creams, telling the adults about their day at school. This lady looking lovingly into her dogs eyes. She stands and looks amongst the owerbeds. I am imagine she is looking for the last morsels of rubbish. Behind the houses sits Elephant & Castles Starta building; out of place like a big black hole. The shard sits further back, smaller, although in reality it stands tallest in all of London.
Why do they come here? What do they like about it? What do they dislike?
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16:18
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16:17
Babies in prams with mothers Wellies and Wooly hats on kids. Dogs and Ball blasters. Stick to the paths Muddy ďŹ elds Rugby pitches, Sirens, School kids ďŹ ghting Herby smells
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TELL YE TO BE BACKHANDED AND ALL THA’
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16:21
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Almost uorescent pink tulips.
A dog party is happening on the green. Six or seven dogs playing, running around having a whale of a time. Here trees stand tall and mature and more often than not in pairs. Two is a magic number.
Pruned to perfection. Tulips fade from magenta to white. Yellow and orange marigolds sit at the base.
Ten minutes here and I have only seen one gardener. That’s it. Symmetrical gardens.
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Beautiful park, well kept but there is no one here to enjoy it?????
EMPTY. DESERTED. LONELY. OVERWHELMING. CALMING. DESOLATE. VAST.
Types of green I can see: Green grass Dark mossy green Dusky dusty green
The sun is gone. Wind has picked up. Park still has nobody in it other than said dog party.
Yellow and orange marigolds.
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16:26
A girl on her three wheeled scooter whizzs past away from her mum who is jogging not too far behind.
Lively and it seems it is the time all the children and families are out to play after school or work. Behind me sits the railway line – which serves Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill. The park is seperated into three parts, the childrens play area, a ‘community orchard’ full of trees on the floor 16:46 Train with outdoor wooden play equipment to clamber on and a tarmaced football pitch fitted with rope goals and everything. It is clearly a park to play in and not just a long stretch of green space.
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16:49 Train 16:50 Train 16:51 Train 16:52 Train 16:53 Train 16:57 Tain 16:59 Train
Lady with a ginger mohawk. Child dressed in o pink hoody. 17:02 Train – Southern. The park decor looks new, saplings dotted around aimlessly. Some protected in tubes, the older ones free to stand up for themselves against the elements. Trains go by but also sit stationry behind me, probably waiting for their space at the platform.
A girl rolypolys up and down the community orchard. A chocolate lab runs back and forth catching his ball laying at the feet of the small child he (or she) is with. The sun has come out again warming the brisk chilly breeze. Low slung jeans and purple jumper.
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16:30
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