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Chemical factory that eventually became the Thames Barrier park
Close up on a picture from my past…a shot I took with an old Polaroid camera 43 years ago in Silvertown of PR Chemicals, also known as Printar, and the Tarmac Factory next door.
It was one of the most polluted sites in the country.
My mother Lily Grainger work as company secretary until she was made redundant in 1970 because the land was needed for the Thames Flood Barrier, the “eighth wonder of the world”. My uncle David Grainger played a big part in creating the barrier.
Chemicals came from all over the world and I remember seeing the great view of the River Thames from there. The barrier opened in 1982, you can see the front of PR Chemicals already has the Thames Barrier construction sides outside.
I was lucky enough to start my stamp collection at the age of eight with those stamps that came from exotic parts of the world.
After the barrier was doing its job it was decided to make the PR Chemicals site a new park for Newham. It took almost another 20 years as they had to decontaminate the site.
The Thames Barrier Park is a 34.6 acres (14.0 ha) park is named after its location on the north side of Thames next to the barrier. It was intended to aid the regeneration of the area by creating an attractive public space alongside residential and commercial developments.
Picture: GLC Planning document
Alain Provost of Groupe Signes won the international competition to design the park in 1995. As the first largely post-modern design in London, the park has a fresh modern look with adventurous planting and dancing water fountains.Decontaminating the site took many years and was done with painstaking precision.