I’m from Walthamstow, an ancient town in the borough of Waltham Forest, tucked away in the North-East of London, about 7 and a half Miles from Charing Cross.
it was a sad sad day when I had to leave, leaving my home of nearly 50 years was painful, and to this day I still feel like a vagabond, homeless and with perpetual homesickness. Nothing can cure that, regardless of how nice it is where I now live or wherever I go – whether in Britain or abroad, I’ll always only be a Londoner.
Anyway, enough sob stories. Before I left back in 2021 I had one last long walk, from where Walthamstow borders Leyton to the South, Woodford and Chingford (and Epping Forest) to the East and North. The Western marches are separated from Hackney (where I was born) by the River Lea, which was also the ancient border between Essex and Middlesex, with Tottenham to the North and West. I took snaps along my walk, though as you’ll read later, most were duds, the ones here were the only half decent ones.
Hidden away on the outskirts of Walthamstow Village, just off the Shernhall Street is the former Ravenswood industrial Estate, where I used to walk through to get to school. It’s now a Hipster hideaway, Yuppies and Hipster hordes from Islington and Oxford, invaded and taken over and priced out native residents, turning Walthamstow Village into an exclusive elite Champagne Socialist enclave; many of the working class are long gone from these parts and now only exist in the odd household – those that stubbornly refused to sell during the huge increase in house prices. Hipsters have their benefits though – analogue, Film and cool stuff! So long live Hipsters! There is hope in the Hipster faith militant.
We used to live on the outskirts of the Village and moved to a much larger house in 1984 on the Walthamstow Tottenham border, about half an hour walk from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s stadium, that too, with Dad’s passing has gone. My mother moved away and so did I.
In the Ravenswood Industrial Estate you’ll find wine bars, restaurants and Gin distilleries, cider, ale and lager breweries. It’s a far cry from the factories which used to line the roads when I was a child. It’s also on the E17 Art Trail (E17 being the Walthamstow Postal Zip Code).
id like to add that if you visit London, hop onto the Victoria Line and alight at Walthamstow Central Station. You can explore the Mile long market (on Thursday, Friday and especially Saturday) and take a stroll down to Wood Street, popping by Ravenswood on the way. Do check out the highlighted links.
Anyway, I digress, amongst all this you’ll find a very fascinating and unusual museum of sorts, it’s called God’s own Junkyard. It’s solely about Neon and Neon signs of which they have over 1500. Check out their website and YouTube.
They have some rules regarding taking pictures:
PHOTOGRAPHY RULES
We do not allow use of Cameras (DSLR) but do allow use of mobile phone cameras for personnel or social media purposes only.
I’m not really one to follow any ‘Rule’ which makes absolutely no sense. But luckily I only had an old Olympus Pen F Half Frame SLR.
So during my last photo walk through my home town, before leaving it forever. I popped into God’s own Junkyard and took some snaps with this ancient camera on Black and White Rollei Retro 400s Film. I took a light reading off the first neon sign I came across then played it by feel.
Below is a Photo of an Olympus Pen F I used to have, this was a lovely example with the fast, sharp and superb 40mm G. Zuiko f1.4 as in THIS post of mine about the Pen F.
I then bought another what looked like a mint body and lens from Japan – The lens (I shot the above snaps with ) was the standard 6 element F.Zuiko 38mm f1.8. The camera and /or lens turned out to be a failure, the camera/lens had severe focus issues (strange as the VF was clear bright and everything looked nailed on focussed) and probably dodgy settings as well, hence I wasn’t able to get a single decent shot from about 4 rolls I put through it (of colour and B&W) but bizarrely it managed to get acceptable shots inside, using relatively low light as in this article. it angered me so much as it ruined my last Walthamstow Walk.
Strange little thing, needless to say I rid myself of it.
When purchasing the Pen F, make sure you get one with good silvering on the mirror, a clean bright View Finder and the 40mm G. Zuiko 40mm f1.4.
No Hipsters or Yuppies were harmed during the making of this err… article.
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Comments
Walter Reumkens on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
I spent the first 30 years of my life in one place, and although I’m always drawn back there, I don’t dwell on it – but I can certainly understand how you feel. That said, being surrounded by hipsters and yuppies wouldn’t exactly be my cup of tea.
I really like the photos – and the camera, of course. I really ought to put a film in it again.
I don’t think I’ll be taking up your travel tip for London. I’ve never really been to London, apart from a brief visit around Easter in 1973. But I’ll never forget it.
Back then I was actively playing field hockey and my team had been invited to an anniversary tournament in Ilkley, near Leeds. The 16 of us travelled by ferry to Dover, queued in the wrong line on the ferry and missed the train to London. We had to take four taxis to catch the last train from King’s Cross to Leeds at around midnight on Good Friday.
My taxi used up 4 litres of oil on the way, but broke down on the outskirts of London. We then took a London taxi to King’s Cross. We arrived there less than 5 minutes before the train was due to leave. We were sweating buckets. :-))) On the return journey, we only had a 30-minute stop there – no time to have a look around the city, just enough for a portion of fish and chips.
And now, at the age of 78, I’ll give that a miss.
Thanks for the article and the photos. All the best, Ibraar.
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
Mark Ellerby on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
Your photos look good despite the blur I think. It's like painting with bokeh.
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
Gary Smith on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
When you decide to post an article of photographs taken 5 years ago, do you then scan prints? Do you already have these older shots online?
God's Own Junkyard looks to be a bright place. Who knew they were on the cover of VOGUE?
Thanks for another peek into your history Ibbs!
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
Gary Paudler on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
Thanks!
Gary
Comment posted: 19/06/2026
Russ Rosener on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 20/06/2026
Comment posted: 20/06/2026
Comment posted: 20/06/2026
Jeffery Luhn on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 21/06/2026
Jeffery
Comment posted: 21/06/2026
Comment posted: 21/06/2026
Comment posted: 21/06/2026
Comment posted: 21/06/2026
Peter Schu on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
BW, Peter
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Paul Quellin on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Danilo Leonardi on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
One thing I wondered, having also enjoyed your earlier article using your (first) PEN, is whether you'll ever give the camera another chance? It sounds as though that second body let you down quite badly, which is a shame after your experience with the first one.
As a side note, the Olympus PEN really is a wonderful picture-taking machine. During the COVID lockdowns, I wrote an almost-ode to my own PEN FV for an analogue photography blog, as well as the small set of PEN lenses I'd collected over the years. Funnily enough, I had the lenses way before I owned a PEN body, using them as manual lenses on my APS-C digital system because I think that they are such a match.
Comment posted: 22/06/2026
Geoff Chaplin on Fifty shades of Neon in God’s own Junkyard
Comment posted: 23/06/2026
Comment posted: 23/06/2026