Exploring Old & New Barking - Abbey Ruins to Barking Riverside

A walk through the changing face of Barking in East London from the ruins of the 7th Century Barking Abbey, then along the River Roding through Ice House Quarter and under the A13 to Creekmouth. From there the walk progresses to the huge new development at Barking Riverside, and then along the Thames to Dagenham Dock Station via Barking Power Station.
The quotes in the video are from the Barking Riverside website barkingriversi...
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Music:
Under Water by Silent Partner
Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
Source: incompetech.com...
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So Far Away by Riot
Ruined Temple by Josh Kirsch/Media Right Productions
Angelic Forest by Doug Maxwell/Media Right Prods
Darkest Child A by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
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Artist: incompetech.com/
Porches and Universes by Puddle of Infinity
Night Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommon...)
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Please watch: "Walk from St.Paul's through Islington to Highgate"
• Walk from St.Paul's th...
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[@borderlands6606]

The plant might be an iris, but that's a guess. I reckon the middle classes need to get their Hunter wellies on and clear that creek at Barking. The difference between liminalia and shitholia is a fine but unmistakable one. Another excellent film John.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Borderlands - I really need to remember to take me plant book with me. I've sent that clip to the London Waterkeeper so maybe he'll get onto the Environment Agency

[@wyvernmodelrailway]

that was indeed an iris.

[@Aengus42]

Yup! Iris. One of our beautiful marginal plants. They've been bred into many varieties so I'm not sure if that was a native or not. Stick "purple uk iris" into image search & you'll see what I mean!

[@richardgreen1970]

Sad to see so much of our ancient waterways clogged with the spoil of modern living,same with the fly tipping it saddens the soul, to see such a mess, and i'm sure there are still offerings lurking in the depths of the mud flats waiting to be discovered . Great film John.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Richard. Hopefully people will wake up to the damage being done to our everyday habitats - there's a clean-up of the Dagenham Brook at the moment which is great. Someone told me recently that there has been little archaeology in the Roding or the Lea - just in the areas where there have been big works around the reservoirs and wharfs - think of all those tributaries making their confluences

[@eddiehawkins7049]

Thank you for making this video, I come from a Barking family and feel that much of our history has been forgotten by our youth. Having said that, I am aware of my own lack of knowledge in this area. I lived on Thames View from my birth in 1957 until moving to the Eastbury area in about 1981, and finally leaving the area in early 1985. Growing up on "The View" in the late sixties and early seventies was as good as an urban working class nipper could hope for. We had so much unregulated (to us) land to explore. The bank of the Thames was our playground, and that playground included what I believe to be a defensive earthwork (which we called German Hill) and wartime structures which were probably AA emplacements. We would disappear for a whole day over the Thames, and always find something to make our day enjoyable. There was a landfill site to the east of Renwick Rd and roughly aligned to River Rd, but south of that was land which belonged to nature. Much of it flooded (or got boggy) in the winter and we had huge fun in that area. I believe that this area still has a Grey Partridge population too( Edit: That area has been built on, so there are no Grey Partridge there anymore, but I understand that there are some in the nature reserve on the other side of Renwick (pronounced Ren Wick) Rd. They used to make me jump out of my skin when the took flight at the the last minute. "The Mighty Barking Power Station"? I believe that you walked past the remaining buildings of the original power station earlier in the video. It was bloody huge.

[@overnightparking]

I did this walk several times going back to maybe 2009. Roughly where all the new flats are used to be very irregular hilly dirt terrain filled with the high pitched whine of ATVs and dirt bikes. I also remember walking through a massive car boot sales (the Dagenham Market) and walking through it led down to the Thames where you could wander for several hundred metres before running into restricted land. I loved these London fringe industrial areas and sought them out all over the city for my photography.

[@jde9095]

Frustrating to see all that beautiful history being choked out. Thank you for sharing your walk.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

It is terrible eh Darrell - hopefully something will be done. Pleasure to share these walks

[@jde9095]

Truly is sad to see

[@billygoatfilms7531]

Brilliant film, took me back to my youth. I was born in Barking in 1949, grew up around the creek and the Abbey. Left school in 1964 and worked in warehouses on Thames View Estate. Where have all those years gone? 👍

[@honestchris7472]

I was born in Barking in 1947, we lived in the ex-army huts in Thames Road and I was 7 years old when I moved to Thames View estate, we were one of the first families to be allocated a house when the place was really a building site but I don`t remember any warehouses on the estate. There were factories on the outer roads that had warehouses (maybe that is what they were) in River Road and Thames Road but they were not on the estate.

[@ANGELUS5548]

Barking has changed soo much lived here 30 plus years it was such nice place to live😖

[@robertedward9456]

Jon Snow lived in Barking back in the 60s it was the best place to live sorry to say it’s a s-t hole now not bing back in35 years

[@theonlyantony]

I love the unclaimed ring road spaces. The bits and pieces, the concrete cliffs. The geriatric graffiti. Pylons. Glad we can love the utilitarian and the municipal Because often the alternative is more harrowing When an area tries too hard to be posh, or cool, or whatever. These are the places that our Christmas presents might end up in, In a hawthorne bush Or our electricity might have to kick through In conflation with other electricities. These are the Sham 69 places - the places that miss the Department Of Works paintbrush - That call our pompous hearts into strict arrest And a gritty lay-by snags our ever playground knees, at light's end. Copyright - Antony Elvin 2019

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Wonderful stuff Antony - and now this moment has passed as the development has grown and started producing new narratives

[@theonlyantony]

I remember knockout redhead of a sunset as i skirted the Northern London flyovers along the North Circular, in my old BMW years ago. I was abducting a friend and had promised him a pub I'd seen only fleetingly, on a bridge over the Lea or Roding - I wasn't sure (found it again on Lea Bridge road, years later). We never found it but bathed in the April sunset and explored. We got out and wandered. It stayed with me. The deep orange glare from the buildings, on sunsets like that is nothing short of transcendent.

[@johnsaunders2109]

Fascinating! So unlike the SW London i was born in and have always lived. Thats the appeal of London , so many cities in one built up area!

[@mikenewman8084]

I walked a fair bit of this route before coming to see London Overground at The Rio last summer. I have to agree River Road is one of the most unpleasant thoroughfares I've ever tramped along. Worth it for the estuary views at the end though.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Ah, that's right I remember you mentioning that you'd been walking that morning, and yes those estuary views are priceless, I'll have to go round to Rainham Marshes next

[@MikeNewman1972]

Well worth a wander I reckon! Look forward to the video :)

[@Garciamrcool]

I really enjoyed this one John. But it was quite unsettling as well. The scale of the development planned at Barking and the blasted nature of the buildings and landscape in the surrounding areas. It was otherworldly and forboding. I was glued to it. Thanks!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Many thanks for watch Garciamrcool - I know what you mean, it almost has to be seen to take it in. I spoke to somebody already living in one of the new flats and he felt the same way. Be interesting to see how it evolves

[@cgeoffreytaylor1135]

this has to be my favourite film of your's, John: River Road, Barking! It's a wonderful dump and I've been fascinated by it since I was a kid in the '70s, but I've never walked it. I will add it to my list of go-to places. Thanks for the reminder....

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Carl - it definitely has a very distinctive atmosphere that you guess will change drastically in the next few years

[@natalieparchment4036]

Thank you. I really enjoyed that and the music was lovely 😊

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Natalie

[@honestchris7472]

I grew up very near there on the Thames View Estate, we moved into one of the first houses that were built, I was seven years old which must have been in 1954, the estate was more or less a building site and we had great fun growing up there. I worked in River Road when I was fifteen years old. Although I have fond memories of Barking back then, it was always a bit of a dump and from what I have seen, it still is, the difference now is when I visit my family, it is like visiting a suburb of India and I feel as though I am the foreign person.

[@AZHARArchitecture]

Thank You! a wonderful exploration.

[@roddale8412]

Another excellent video on a channel full of excellent videos.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Rod

[@johncarter2573]

I was born in barking. Heart breaking To see what has happened. Polish graffiti and fly tipping everywhere. Great vlog thank you.

[@tipstricksss1453]

I am tempted to go grab that car seat if its still there, I'll be able to use that for a driving simulator build.

[@bighorse10048]

Hi John, Great video and yes the flower is a Iris grown in most east London gardens but commonly called Flags. Steve

[@MrCamparisafari]

hello mate, thanks also spotted these in austria

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks Steve

[@DanielSmith-zb1gg]

Thank you for highlighting that section of the Thames at Barking. I've been walking down there since I was a kid and feel I know it very well, I'm now 64 and still go there, on a good day you'll see seals basking in the mud at the waterline and on a high tide large mullet. Also skylarks nest in the grass, I've seen owls on occasion. I really do fear for the place as I feel it's steadily being invaded by the unsympathetic planning. Great film so thanks again.

[@DWKThedogbreaths]

In the 90s the hackney arts community used to have free summer raves on that land they're building on. It was truely incredible, private and festive. That old powerstation had miles of clapped out vehicles along side when an event happened.

[@paulvallance4347]

Better than Countryfile. You should have your own psychogeography programme. Fascinating stuff-thank you.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Paul - very kind of you

[@mikeydluffy2718]

A wonderful walk documented John. Loved the part about the award for fly tipper of the year

[@lemenelli5100]

Thanks for the lovely, informative walk, see you on the next one :)

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Lemenelli

[@susanmitchell4744]

Thank you John; you have shared a glimpses of parts of the town where I was born and brought up that I have never seen. I was married at St.Margarets, Barking Abbey in 1976 and remember the town as a quiet, clean suburb where City workers lived. The last time I went back to Barking was 2016 and was saddened by what I saw. So this is progress? New homes for Albanians and other imports.

[@DJdefcon4]

Great vid and thanks for the music list :)

[@andrewramsey7405]

I love this video, someone needs to clear this mess up, them poor ducks clip says it all.

[@cappokenneth]

Another great video John, Shame about the state of the little creek, Just may be cleaned up if the right person sees it. Thanks for sharing... Ken

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks very much Ken - yes I'm going to try and find the person at the Council to send it to. They're cleaning up the Dagenham Brook at the moment round here so it can be done

[@cappokenneth]

Better still, catch the people responsible, and make them clean it up

[@LondonRick]

brilliant , I really enjoyed watching that, all that you coverd is where I spent all of my childhood growing up, and played and fished all along that stretch of the thames and still fish there to this day, thank you John, great work

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks Ricky - it's a really special landscape

[@breecepancake7014]

Found this quite by accident. Glad I did … magnetic little movie. Love these hinterlands. I always check them out whenever possible and I've been working recently on the Riverside project for a piling company. We're back there again for another phase in Feb 2020 … 11 years work ahead of us but I'll be retired by then ( only just). Keep up the good work. I'll be viewing a few more of your vids. I wonder what equipment you use ? … nice music … do I hear hang pan drums in there?

[@pr4442]

Lovely calm narrating and music.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Paul - I've just uploaded the walk along the other bank of the Roding - it'll be live at 6pm

[@paulstringer5327]

Reminds me of being back home in Dagenham, but so much as changed. Great video John.

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

most enjoyable JUohn

[@spleeeen4it]

Very nice film, really enjoyed it

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks

[@tomgirldouble3249]

I see this is from 2017 so hope the fly tipping and creek have been sorted. Suppose much development has happened in the two years between. Another excellent video, really enjoying thanks 👍😊

[@dimanshe1]

WoW ! This literally my new neighbourhood. Lived opposite Wanstead flats 2 years now live near River Roding in ILford. Learning so much! This is a ‘MUST SHARE’ video!!!!! Impressive knowledge...........

[@okunrin3]

Your video is fantastic and educational. Well done.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thank you

[@MrBlaxjax]

Really terrific work. Please keep it up.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Martin

[@rosswebster7500]

Wonderful video John. Great images of human relationships with our waterways for good or for ill. The last scenes with the shipping containers reminds me of a new great podcast series called "Containers" which examines how shipping containers created the Global Economy as we know it, but left hundreds of docks around the world in the dust.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Ross - I'll check out that podcast sounds really interesting

[@stevenspraggs4953]

brilliant just love these keep up the fantastic work

[@JohnRogersWalks]

+steven spraggs thanks Steven

[@Victor-um4mc]

The Nostalgia i had my childhood there best times Barking riverside was best place friendly neighbours aswell

[@JagBetty]

Fly tipping is such tragic thing...suburban vomit on the edges of the outskirts. Another great video and an enjoyable stroll.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Jag - that's a brilliant description of fly-tipping

[@selorm]

Hi John, thanks so much for making this video. This video enough should've been all the evidence needed to kick the EA and council to do something, not to mention all the flooding it aggravates. But after 3 years and 1 week of trying (a huge break in between because of life), they've finally said they'll commit to some spending to clear, clean, and maintain. The EA also apparently found j-knotweed years ago but didn't bother telling any of us or clearing it. So that's fun, we'll see how that goes too.

[@exessex3522]

You might mention that Barking was a thriving fishing village. Barking's Short Blue fleet was based at the Town Quay, a stone's throw from Barking Abbey. The Town Quay was formed by what I assume was a natural pool in the Roding giving excellent sheltered mooring and a distribution point. The Short Blue fleet was commemorated by the Short Blue pub on Thames View Estate (now sadly demolished).

[@highoctanecars2149]

Thank you John. Another great film love the blend of the old and new... The SS Princess Alice was a true disaster and with all the raw sewage that was pumped into the Thames back then it must have been unimaginable for the poor souls. Even now sewage still gets in the Thames due to the outdated Victorian sewers Lets hope the waterways gradually get clean from all the waste and litter it's a shame some people just do not care! Keep the films coming they are much appreciated! Cheers, Rob

[@grandmasterbeats9732]

You nailed it when you said that the pedestrian lives in a world of pure restrictions.

[@leophillips5723]

Keep getting better and better

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks Leo - love making these films

[@theonlyantony]

loved it

[@SirPrancelot1]

Great viewing as always. 2021 now so guess it is well under way. Good to have this memory of what is was like. You provide a valuable service John, as well as entertainment.

[@keeshenarul4554]

Thoroughly enjoyed it, keep up the good work John!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

+Keeshen Arul thanks Keeshen

[@keeshenarul4554]

John Rogers , have you done any videos/walks of Woolwich, Thamesmead or Abbey Wood ?

[@IlfordRetro]

A really enjoyable video (and channel). I echo yours and others' sentiments about the fly tipping and other abuse of the waterways. So sad but hopefully the Environment Agency will take action, not least because of your highlighting of the problem.

[@redfordgrange3507]

Wonderful stuff as ever

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Redford

[@sandrap2759]

Great Video. thank you. I lived across the road from Bobby Moores house. It bought back so many wonderful memories. Greetings from Australia.🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@selorm]

Did you know Doris and John?

[@jaygiles3434]

Was born in barking grew up on Thames view and the Gascoigne estates . Sad to see the state of some of it . Remember sliding down the slope in the Abby next to the steps in the early 80s.

[@EmergenceMusic12]

Great work John...thank you

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks David

[@EmergenceMusic12]

You are so welcome John, River Road, Rushing Waters, The Abbey....my old adventure hunting grounds when I was just a street kid in the 50' and 60's..so many happy and terrible memories...use to wander along the river roding and feel the wildness of nature in the heart of industrial London.magic..I swear I could hear those Vikings rowing upstream towards the Abbey with axes'n swords sharpened...If you ever find yourself in NZ would love to get together and show you around my new neighborhood :-)

[@normathomas8276]

another brilliant film john so disgusted seeing all that rubbish people should be so ashamed xx

[@sonnyhenry1]

Video on where I live, quite nice good vid as always!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Henry

[@isaac_mp4]

HenryD_wiz g I live in Barking as well

[@denisegeva6419]

John tried to find you on face book... love your videos... my grandpa slept on the banks of barking quay when he came over from Holland before ww1 and I wanted to send you some sketches my mum did

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Hi Denise - sounds like a great story from your grandparents. I'm not a big FB user, would you mind emailing me fugueur99 at gmail.com - thanks

[@tomnewsom9124]

Aaaah, just got caught up on the last couple of months' videos. Sublime as always :) PS: Come South of the river John!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

That's really kind of you Tom. Been on my list to come South of the River for about a year now. Working on a longer term doc for my other channel in those parts and have a great walk lined up from the river out to the southern fringe at the end of the month

[@techreviewer]

Great video john make a video about barkingside or ilford or Gants hill

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks AJ - those places crop up in a few videos but I'll certainly go back at some point

[@techreviewer]

Ok thanks

[@ObviousInception]

Really good video

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks

[@Na5tyify]

Love the fly tip awards segment. I would love to tag along on one of your walks if you are ever out essex way again.

[@barrington7774]

the plant at 13:27 looks like Iris sibirica. (Blue Iris) but don't quote me ;) I spent a lot of time living around barking at one point. around the creek and down to the a13 bridge over the river. I once found a dead 13ft python rotting. RSPCA said it probably originated from one of the disused warehouse/factories feeding on rats as theyre plentiful along there.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

+Barry Peters thanks for that Barry - grisly find that python, had them living under a house I stayed in Sydney happy not to see any more dead or alive

[@leophillips5723]

John 🔥🔥🔥

[@selorm]

"Thank god there's no wind" - you don't even know. Waiting at the bus stop, you just have to put your back to it in the shelter and hope you don't miss the bus.

[@georginacox3909]

Got the 3 markets coming to Barking Reach

[@nikolairbw01]

Love your videos mate keep it up!

[@oildrum101]

closed gates on a towpath is a crime

[@tomcook7676]

It's a Japanese Water Iris

[@uair01]

A very nice video once again. That must take a lot of editing time.

[@robertedward9456]

Fished by Barking power plant the creek and Thames 40 years ago for ells and fish

[@jlily8909]

The flower is an Iris, the same name as my late mum.

[@exessex3522]

9:41 "Knightsbridge Road" in Barking? I don't think so. Re Waverley Gardens: I was a milk boy back in the 1960s and delivered milk to Bobby Moore's mum. Bobby had moved out by that time. Re WHU: I later went to the same school as Trevor Brooking (Ilford County High School, Barkingside).

[@ya00007]

Have you made that video about wanstead park yet? Good idea to include wanstead flats.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

I've made a few Wanstead Park and Wanstead Flats films now - but not a single 'definitive' film as such. Here are the two most recent ones kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZ-wk4N9f9OCn6c kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIWYhGuGYtOld8U

[@Smartgran]

My dad used to swim in Barking Creek! I was hoping I might see some of the places where i lived in my gran's house in the early 50's King Edward Road not far from the Westbury pub where my gran drank. I probably won't get that way again. I removed myself to Scotland to escape the political madness of Westminster and thankfully found my shangri lah. They used to take me to feed the ducks in Barking Park! Have they built over it now?

[@briancox144]

Such a shame that people can’t respect our waterways countryside, before its to late it’s totally unexceptionable other than that little moan great video John Rogers

[@eddybooth1]

Would of loved to seen Jenkins lane.

[@robertedward9456]

Back in the 60s it was where everyone dumped there rubbish,lots of car junk yards .I liked the Abby and rushing waters as we called it.some good times.moved away,shame it’s gone down hill but you can say that about most places turn back time the world was better then

[@ouboet12]

Great or is it? Nevertheless very spellbinding. Nice music once again.

[@samiblank6761]

That wasnt a fly tip in hobbs cross it was modern art ive yet to figure it out

[@CthulhuInc]

sometimes, i feel a little depressed by some of the things in your videos - the "fly-tipping" in particular, makes me despair

[@sharktails6468]

the abbey ruin are a restore the orgial was completly taken by henry 8th

[@melvinkhan2015]

at the start under the a406 flyover what are them rounded buildings

[@davidbutler4363]

😁👍👏👏👏

[@abir.chowdhury]

Abandoned Comet! At 2:05

[@eddybooth1]

That liquor I would not put on my pie & mash.

[@grandmasterbeats9732]

Opportunity FOR THEIR WALLETS

[@theonlyantony]

Fly tipping, but no nudie mags!

[@eddybooth1]

Iris

[@annother3350]

They plan on a night time economy in barking? Is that prostitution or gambling?!

[@maryreichle7623]

Surely it is the responsibility of the local council to clean up dumped rubbish and clean out the clogged waterways.

[@selorm]

It is, and the environmental agency but they shirked responsibility to each other for years - my neighbour said they used to dredge it every year and clean everything out.

[@hbwestham]

I think those ducks are up shit creek

[@eddybooth1]

Well that’s a first ..... FOR FUCKS SAKE. .... But I can feel your anger my friend .

[@Signals927]

Why do people have to fly tip and spoil the environment and all those plastic bottles in the creek, what a shame seeing the duck with her ducklings swimming through that crap. I bet that creek contains something dodgy.

[@neilfranklin5644]

Not fly tipping that is modern art instlation,

[@clarkkent2372]

Barking is not safe!😳

[@skiph3]

Just watched this. This local appears to be suffering from cancer...

[@steveanderson4515]

I've watched many of your videos around East London... I grew up my whole life in Islington (62-67) Stoke Newington (67-70) Ilford (70-81) & Forest Gate (81-95) .... And then I left. For the sad reasons (East London is now a shithole) that are all too obvious in your videos.... A quick look at the demographics through the years explains it all.... Sadly we can't discuss it these days! True Londoners will understand what I mean.

[@theepicred]

666 likes

[@michaelsteirn4454]

Oh yes all being gentrification driving out the ordinary working person. It’s happened in Brixton

[@MegaGary1960]

half a million pound apartments in the middle of a complete shit hole still one day the shit will be cleared up and just the rich will be living here

[@hoverboverer]

All on top of landfill, asbestos and fly ash.