Barbara has just moved to Greenwich and like so many of us has decided to do the declutter after the move. She asks:

I’m trying to declutter and get rid of stuff, and that’s what I want to ask you: I’m trying to find out where I can recycle electronics. I’ve a couple of old phones, clocks, broken toys, stuff like that, and I don’t know where to recycle them. I’ve looked on the Greenwich Council site, but they say to look for the bright pink rubbish bins – but so far I haven’t found any of them, so have no idea where to look.

I have donated clothes and things to the Save the Children shop in Trafalgar Road and freecycled quite a few things, but I’m stuck with the electronics. Can you help me with that?

The Phantom replies:

I vaguely remember a pink bin over at Sainsburys on the peninsula, though it’s a bit of a long way to lug your toaster only to find the bin’s gone. There used to be one near you (Woodland Heights) on the pavement next to the ‘heart of East Greenwich’ but like everything else (including said pavement) it’s gone now.

There is one charity shop that takes electronic stuff – is it the Hospice? I vaguely remember red and white livery – perhaps someone can help.

Failing that, Freecycle is your friend – it’s helped me offload all sorts of stuff. It’s basically a Yahoo group aimed at keeping useable stuff out of landfill, where you post what you’re offering and people come round and take it off your hands. Most people who use it are lovely, but you do get the odd rude person or character that doesn’t turn up (several times, ahem…)

I’ve found that if you don’t answer the first person who replies, but review the replies after a day or so, you can choose the one that sounds least flaky, most likely to actually turn up and not be rude.

If you have access to a car, you can take your stuff to the council dump at Nathan Way in Thamesmead, where they will, I understand, recycle stuff for you. Office furniture, as a by the by, (and I know you weren’t asking) can be recycled (and purchased, very cheaply) by Greenworks also in Nathan Way.

But I’d be very keen to know who else takes electronics for recycling. Any good suggestions, folks?

Ray’s been losing sleep for the past 20 years over one of those irritating, pointless mind-worms that work their way into your subconscious entirely oblivious that they are not worth the effort of being solved, but hey – who can tell how the human mind works?

He’s been bothered by a TV drama from the early 90s which he is almost certain featured No.1 Ballast Quay, “all done up and looking like your average Yuppie’s ’30 something’ house” and he’s been trying to work out what the hell it was – and whether or not it actually was in Greenwich.

Unfortunately he remembers very little about it and his ‘quick synopsis’ seems to be a – well, a quick synopsis of every TV drama in the early 90s:

Dude meets girl, they live together, dude gets violent, dude gets kicked out and begins to stalk girl, girl stabs dude to death in self defence.

Sounds like a laugh a minute…

Now – this might sound odd but I didn’t have a telly in the 90s, so I’m helpless here – but can anyone here help Ray with his half-memory? Hilary? Darryl?

Actually – Julian has just reminded me that it could have been our very own local soap Night & Day – which of course I didn’t see for the reasons stated above. Can anyone confirm that?

We’re used to seeing murals round here – mainly created by Greenwich Mural Workshop and dating back at most to the 1980s. This one isn’t by GMW and it’s much older. The other awkward thing is that it isn’t actually in Greenwich. It’s not actually even in England. But it does give me one more reason why I want to visit the Orkney Islands.

It’s by a chap called Albert Ryecraft ‘Splinter’ Woods, born in Gravesend in 1877, died in Deptford in 1950 and for much of his life – and both World Wars – Piermaster at Tower Pier, for the PLA.

So what the hell was he doing painting a mural in the mess hall of a WWII gun battery in Orkney? That’s the question Andrew, who leads tours round the extraordinary-looking Ness Battery at Stromness, would like to know.

A job like Woods’s wouldn’t have seen him being called up but he was a part-time Territorial in WWI, manning machine guns on a roof in Deptford Market. In his fifties by the time WWII broke out, he became a Sergeant in the Home Guard, but always working on the Thames. Here’s a picture of him and his dog Peter:

In 1942 Woods wrote a book about his experiences in both wars – I Guarded the Waterfront – and was a minor celebrity at the time, even broadcasting on the wireless – but ask anyone round here now about him and you’ll get blank looks. In Orkney, though, he’s an intriguing man of mystery that many know about and have been searching for.

Andrew tells me the book makes no mention of his time in Orkney, and there is no record of his ever having been there other than his signature on the mural itself, which is one of the highlights of a visit to this most odd of 20th Century monuments (How odd? Well wouldn’t YOU want to visit a place that looked like this?)

Andrew wonders if Woods came to Orkney with equipment requisitioned for use by the Navy, such as floating cranes, barges and the like, which we know came from the PLA – in fact, the remnants of one of the floating cranes is still being scrapped as we speak. His experience in the Merchant Navy and as a small boat-man on the Thames may have made him a useful volunteer to escort those small craft up here. Speculative, but possible…

Research has come to a bit of a grinding halt though. The PLA lost a lot of records in the war and know little beyond the fact that Woods retired in 1947. The house where he died at Amersham Vale in New Cross has long gone for a health centre. Woods had children but Andrew can’t find any living descendents who might be able to shed light on why he went to Orkney and how long he spent there (must have been some time – that mural’s pretty big…)

So he’s trying a long shot and asking whether there are any Phantophiles out there who might have anything on this intriguing gentleman and his acrobatic dog.

I guess it’s worth an ask. Stephen? Mary? Anyone?

Maya asks:

I want to take my boyfriend for a day out in Greenwich. I want to stay with him in the area so we don’t have to race home. The stranger the better. He is a big history buff and likes anything from the 18th century. Do you know of anywhere we can stay?

The Phantom replies:

For somewhere that’s such a tourist attraction we seem to specialise in bland chain hotels. If you love the Novotel/Ibis/Premier Inn type place you’re well-in but if you’re after somewhere a little more cosy, there’s only really one place I’d wholeheartedly recommend.

Robert Gray’s quirky guesthouse at Number 16 St Alfege Passage should do the trick nicely – literally round what looks like the back but which is actually the front of the 18th Century St Alfege Church (hint: turn off your speakers before you click on the website.) Robert is a fantastic host and true Greenwich character, and the B&B is right bang in the centre of town.

Hmm. Places to visit that have an 18th Century bent… Well, there’s the obvious big hitters – The Old Royal Naval College and St Alfege Church, but you should also walk up to Ranger’s House, an English Heritage property which has very arcane opening hours but is well worth the trip. I say ‘walk up’ because there are lots of interesting Georgian Houses on the routes up ther e- Crooms Hill, Hyde Vale etc.

If your boyfriend is a Hawksmoor buff, don’t miss the old Conduit House in the park. It’s not open to the public but is a nice example of his less grand work. At the top of Hyde Vale there’s also a little conduit head and in the park, that thing that looks like a hobbit hole near the kiddies’ playground is also Conduit.

He should also take a look at Vanbrugh Castle on the other side of the park – again, not open to the public but worth a look for the castlellation.

I am sure other Phantophiles will have good suggestions for both places to stay and 18th Century things to see.

Stephen is curious to know why the steps he snapped at Number 15 the Paragon are shaped like this instead of just being straight up and it seems like a good question to me.

They don’t seem to take much less pavement space than regular stright-up jobs, and besides, lack of pavement space isn’t an issue here.

Neil Rhind’s otherwise definitive The Paragon and South Row, Blackheath doesn’t really go into building design, it’s much more a social history – and probably the better for that. What it does tell me though, is that number 15 was the porter’s lodge.  The porter had to do a lot of fetching and carrying of mail, odd jobs around the estate and general inspection. Some were ex-soldiers – a couple became Chelsea Pensioners  - and in the later years they wore a smart livery to run errands etc.

If I were a Phantom Phlunky, with fancy frogged frocking, the last thing I’d want to do is step out of my front door straight into a muddy puddle. It’s my guess these steps doubled as a mounting platform for horse riders.

But maybe someone else has a better idea?

Don’t know if you remember John Townsend – actor, radical, auctioneer, MP? We talked about him back in 2010 – a real Greenwich character.

We talked about him again later that year when a Canadian descendent of his, Bonnie Buxton, got in touch. She now tells me that she’s met another Canadian, a TV technician also seeking his family history (through the blog – how odd is that…) and that he’s been doing some research about what happened to Townsend after he’d emigrated to the land of Maples and Mooses.

He found some fabulous cuttings from papers of the day – including a call-out of the local fire brigade after the ‘fire effect’ proved to be a bit too realistic.

Scott presented Bonnie with a file of information gleaned about our Greenwich actor – including evidence that Sarah, his wife was locked up in Hamilton Insane Asylum in 1889 – probably for the heinous crime of suffering from Altzheimer’s. Townsend himself probably died a pauper.

Bonnie’s now met dozens of distant relatives and is all fired up to come to Britain to see John and Sarah Townsend’s old haunts. She says:

My husband and I are going to England in late May, and I would like to spend a few days soaking up the historic atmosphere of Greenwich.How do I get there from London? Where’s a good place to stay? What would have been there in 1850 when Old John had to resign from his seat? I know he was popular because he got the dock workers a raise. What can I see there now?

First things first. It’s pretty easy to get to Greenwich from the centre of town – from ancient to modern. The Docklands Light Railway runs from Bank or Tower Gateway to Greenwich Cutty Sark or mainline station (which Townsend would have known – it’s not changed much). John may have taken the train on his trips up to Westminster (trains from Cannon Street, London Bridge or Charing Cross; sometimes you have to change at London Bridge) but my wager is that he took the boat all the way there.

You still can – and unless the weather is a total mare, the boat is probably my favourite. Don’t get the tourist barges, get the Thames Clipper – a comfortable and clean trip and if it’s a nice day you can stand outside at the back. It’s probably the priciest option but you can at least use your Oyster card (most of the time they make you buy a ticket before you board, even with the Oyster, which seems ridiculous to me…) It will let you off at Greenwich Pier, pug-ugly but at least pretty much exactly where John Townsend would have trod.

The pretty little Victorian waiting room went a few years ago – you’ll have to go to St Kitts if you want to see it now. Deemed past it by Greenwich, the Caribbean island seems to have disagreed. Not sure if it’s out yet – would love to see a picture of it in use.

In fact there’s less around from John Townsend’s day than you might think. We have the very old stuff – the Observatory and the Old Royal Naval College, the Queen’s House and St Alfege Church, but early to mid Victorian buildings are a bit rarer. The Market would have been familiar to John – built in 1831/2 by Joseph kay, it would have been comparatively new.

There’s very little left of the original Greenwich Theatre of 1871 – it’s on the same site, but has been pretty much gutted and rebuilt after falling into disrepair, though if you go down Nevada street there is still something of what it might have looked like.

Townsend would have known Crooms Hill, Hyde Vale and the surrounding areas, such as Royal Hill, though the Royal Hill Lecture Hall, where he gave his swansong performance, is long gone. The art deco Borough Hall is now in its place if memory serves.

If you go up Greenwich High Road, you’ll come to the old Lovibonds brewery, now Davey’s wine bar. It still has the sloping floors so they could literally roll out the barrels. The Mitre pub, next door to St Alfege church, would also have been known to Townsend.

And there I begin to run out. So, folks. Early to mid Victorian buildings still extant in Greenwich, please…

Serena asks:

Jack asks:

“My family have lived in greenwich for over 150 years, and I have been doing my family tree. On the 1881 census, my great x3 grandmother Eliza Moody ran a greengrocers and fruit shop at 121 Trafalgar road.
I was wondering if you had any pictures of this place from books or if you knew anyone that would possibly have a picture or anything. I have no name of the shop, just 121 Trafalgar road.”

The Phantom replies:

This is SUCH a common question. I confess that without trawling through every single book I don’t know if there is one that takes in that particular shop and sadly Real Life is utterly crazy at the moment; I just don’t have the time.

But it’s easy enough to do for yourself what I would have to do – nip over to the Heritage centre at Woolwich Arsenal and ask to see the photographs they keep that are labelled by street. There might also be other collections that will have them in so have a chat with the curators. It really helps to know where No. 121 is now (if it exists) so you can see where it is in the street and identify it by other things around it rather than just hoping there is something labelled as such. There could be pictures of trams or other things with that shop in the background.

There are other places to look, of course. The Heritage Centre holds many more books than I do for starters – a happy afternoon with a bunch of them might yield results. I’ve been having a chat with a chap who’s found a picture of his family shop in the Morden College Archives (more about that another day…) – could be worth seeing what they have, especially since they own a lot of the land north of (and including) Traf Road – if you look at the top of the building Tesco is in you’ll see the coat of arms.

For photos of streets now, Mike Curry has asked me to remind you that he has an exhibition of his travels around town  at The Greenwich Gallery, which is at Linear House, just behind Greenwich Borough Hall on Royal Hill. It’s on until the end of the month and if you go at weekends you can have a chat with the man himself…

Here are the two Joans, Joan Trathen and Joanie Valentine, civil servants from the Royal Naval College snapped in 1982. It’s pretty clear where they’re walking – but what do we call it?

The fabulously-monikered Townly Cooke is currently putting together a collection of his photographs of Greenwich from 1970 to 1212 but he finds himself with niggling questions about some of the locations.

For example, the Five Foot Walk. It’s clear where it runs – it’s five-foot wide and it’s a walk (save for the silly cyclists who insist on barging through when the best cycle lane in Greenwich is mere feet away from them the other side of the railings…) But what happens to it when it reaches either end and widens out? Do we still call it the Five Foot Walk, wonders Townly?

I guess so, though frankly if I was talking about one end I’d probably be talking about Bellot’s obelisk and the other the Trafalgar Tavern and not need to mention the walk. Anyone have a clue as to what to call it?

Townly also wonders if we “know the reason for the steps and ramp that feature in the photo and why they were demolished ? A friend said it may be to do with anti-flooding?”

I think your friend might be right, Townly – it’s not much cop as a wheelchair ramp as it appears to come to a sudden end with steps on it. Maybe it was just an awkwardly levelled piece of ground that needed a bit of brute force in the design? That bit of pier has been designed and redesigned many times over the years (the delightful little Victorian waiting room would still have been in use in 1982), perhaps the levels had started to reach silly proportions?

I assume they were demolished in the recent redesign as part of Progress.

Chris asks:

I am trying to trace the exact location of a Victorian photographic studio called R L Sims and Co, in King Street, Greenwich.

Can you help, and would you know the whereabouts of any collections of photographs taken by this studio?

The Phantom replies:

It took me a while to work out why this name was ringing a bell in the Phantom brain. At first I thought it was something to do with the Victorian publisher Henry Richardson or maybe I’d seen a photo for sale somewhere but then I realised that I’d seen it elsewhere.

Mr Sims was (possibly) part of a trio of photographers, led by the Rev. Spurgeon, who created a groundbreaking photography project in the latter part of the 19th Century to record ‘real’ Greenwich street life. The photos are world famous and often find themselves in books about general London/Victorian history. You know the sort of thing:

Of course with the sort of exposure time needed, these pictures would have been rather more posed than they first appear but even so, they are seminal in the history of photography and a very important collection.

Originally created in half-plate, the negatives and slides are now lost, but the proof prints survived, and were passed down from Mr Spurgeon via his son in law to Mr O J Morris, the third in the little trio of photo journalists. He presented them to Greenwich Libraries, so my best guess is that they are now held at the splendid Greenwich Heritage Centre.

I don’t know of any collections just by Mr Sims’s studio, though it’s likely the Heritage Centre will know more than me. I’m no photographic (or otherwise) historian.

But King Street? That one had me puzzled for a while, and I went of on a long wild goose chase trying to find it and, if you read an earlier version of this post you will have seen me place it in Deptford. But thanks to Joe, I can now place it where King William Walk is now:

…which makes a hell of a lot more sense than what is now Watergate Street in Deptford….