Brockwell Pat

Brockwell Park - 6th June.2025

I made a flying visit to Herne Hill to visit my friend Pat on Friday. 

We met at Polytechnic in Hull many moons ago. Pat originally hails from Tipton, in the West Midlands, referred to as the Black Country. Now he lives close to Brockwell Park in the leafy borough of Lambeth..

I remember speaking to Pat about my teenage years living in South London. It must have made an impression as he consequently moved here, an area that is a short bus journey from where I used to live (Streatham) in the 80’s. 

The locality of the station is not what I remembered however. The area is firmly gentrified and very middle class these days. I think I counted three parent bicycles within the first few minutes of exiting the station (the ones with the big box on the front, intended for a couple of infants and a waitrose bag or two). 

After a stop at Gail’s, for two coffees, a smoked ham and cheese croissant and two (most excellent) cinnamon swirls (£22.50!!), we headed to Brockwell Park to walk off the swirls, continue our conversation and possibly find a location for a photo or two. 

Brockwell was partially sectioned off due to the numerous summer events going on there - a subject of much discussion in the local community, as it can be noisy and the footfall has dramatically increased in the last few years. 

Brockwell Park with Pat, under a Cedar of Lebanon. (Thankfully no pidgeon droppings!)

We walked up the hill towards Brockwell Hall, which dates back to 1811. There’s some nice pathways with covered benches (the sort you sometimes see in seaside towns) and one became a location for a couple of photos. We talked about getting older, health issues (including a trapped thumb in a door), friends we hadn’t seen for a while, family, pets, music bands we want to see, the Derby (horse racing).. All the important and not so important stuff basically. A funny and sometimes serious conversation that made meeting up special and reminded me that I need to make the effort more often, as I really enjoyed it. 

We took some more photos near a temporary security fence, and near an old victorian horse watering point. The locations lent themselves to the conversation and the subsequent photographs, which can be found on the portraits section of the portfolio. These are digital b/w (ND780) with a combination of 85mm and 50mm lenses.