New river walkway is highlight of the year

This time the topographical highlight must be the completion of the riverside walk between Canbury Gardens and Queens Promenade after a wait of more than half a century.

The idea was mooted in 1946 and, after prolonged negotiations over land ownerships, funding and other issues, a modest start was made in 1961 by extending Queens Promenade to the north.

More sections were opened up in the 1970s and 80s until.there was only one gap left: the section between Emms Passage and Kings Passage, left derelict for years during the on-off-on-off-on saga of the Charter Quay development.

At last, in 2001, this gap was filled, beautifully landscaped, and officially opened by the Duke of Kent in July. So now, for the first time ever, there is a continuous public walkway along Kingstons stretch of the Thames from Surbiton to the Richmond boundary (and thence on to Putney). This is surely one of the greatest environmental assets ever achieved in the Royal borough.

But theres a depressing downside to this happy outcome. St George, the Twickenham-based developers of Charter Quay, celebrated completion of the riverside walk with a sculpture by Lloyd Le Blanc. Its an exquisite piece, depicting a flock of mallard ducks in flight, and gave pleasure to all who saw it. Not for long, though. Kingstons burgeoning yob element soon got to work and the sculpture arguably the loveliest public work of art the town has ever had has been removed for major repairs. Now hooligans are using its empty plinth a fine piece of polished black marble for damaging cycle acrobatics. And theyre doing so in full view of passers-by, confident that no-one will challenge them.

For this to happen in broad daylight, in the busy central piazza of a multi-million pound development of elegant homes, shops and cafes, suggests that beautiful landmarks are wasted on todays Kingston.

And when the sculpture comes back, as St George say it will, how long will it be before the wreckers get it again? The incident has filled me with rage and despair.

Im also enraged by the name given to the new road that runs east-west from Richmond Road to Skerne Road to give access to the new Sainsbury superstore and other planned developments.

Its called Sury Basin, a ridiculous title with no meaning beyond being an anagram of Sainsbury.

This simply isnt good enough. Place names have long served as valuable local history markers, recalling notable past people, events or topography.

Now, from vanity and/or ignorance, developers are choosing names that have no relevance whatsoever to their sites.

This is particularly sad at a time when so much of old Kingston is being altered beyond recognition.

The new Sainsburys sits between Richmond Road, formerly Canbury Lane, and Skerne Road. The latter is one of Kingstons oldest thoroughfares, dating back at least 650 years, and known for most of that centuries as Barre Lane.

This is because it began at Barre Bridge, which spanned a watercourse near what is now the junction of Skerne Road and Wood Street, and was one of four bridges in bygone Kingston (the others being Clattern Bridge and Kingston Bridge, which remain, and Stone Bridge, in what is now Clarence Sreet).

Then, in the 19th century, it became Lower Ham Road and the site of three revolutionary new industries: gas, sewage disposal and electricity.

First on the scene was John Bryant, who built a small gasworks in Leg of Mutton Meadow (now part of the Sainsbury site) and piped a supply to a few houses.

The townspeople were horrified, especially when the corporation sided with Bryant and his enterprise.

A major reason for their hostility was that Kingston candles were an important local industry, and gas might ruin it.

A public meeting was held, and a resolution passed that the lighting of the public lamps of the town with gas will be a serious injury to property situate within it, an inroad on health and a fruitful source of discomfort, nuisance and litigation to its inhabitants, and will drive some away from the town.

It was also resolved that legal and Parliamentary proceedings be instituted to prevent Bryants wicked design and the pipes and stenches of a gasometer.

But Bryant refused to be beaten, and to the rage of his opponents gas replaced oil in several Kingston street lamps on September 1, 1833.

His Kingston Gas Company expanded steadily over the years, and Hope Tavern and Hope Avenue, a long-vanished street of cottages, were built for the workers.

The company merged with Wandsworth Gas Company in 1930, and finally closed in 1955. After that, local gas was supplied was supplied from a grid established after the formation of the South East Gas Board in 1949.

However the gasometers remained on the site as reservoirs until the site was cleared for the building of Sainsburys and the leisure centre and housing that will soon follow.

Now Bryant, whose pioneering enterprise did so much to improve living standards in the town, is a forgotten man. Also forgotten are his optimistically named Hope Avenue and Hope Tavern, which have vanished without trace.

So, please, delete meaningless Sury Basin and replace it with a real name that recalls the significant history of this site.

To be continued next week.

By.June Sampson