News on Placemarks

London Bridge, Shad Thames and Old Bermondsey are three thriving, very different neighbourhoods within north Southwark. The history of these places is well documented, but what is the contemporary character of each and what is it based on? In June we launched the Placemarks project, encouraging people to contribute their personal local Placemarks and items of interest so that we can ensure that the unique character of the area is understood, celebrated and protected by mapping them together. To date we've had around 200 contributions with the Top Five types of Placemarks being: 1) Buildings2) Open spaces3) Businesses4) Streets5) Parks and gardens And the Top Five reasons people love these places were given as: 1) History2) Attractiveness3) Attracting people4) Community asset5) Uniqueness   The places that have attracted the most comment so far have been the various sections of the river front and the many aspects of Bermondsey Street. These areas are evidently much loved and our community has been creative in suggesting ways they could be better celebrated, including placing open air cinemas and a floating stage on the Thames. The architecture along Bermondsey Street in particular is identified as warranting more awareness as many of the buildings have an interesting story to tell.