I am somewhat relieved to report that the majority of the damage that Deptford businesses sustained last night seems to have been to the banks and bookies, and chains such as Tesco and Greggs, with the exception of our jeweller W Samuel whose shutters were damaged and jewellery boxes strewn across the street. I am hoping that the shop's goods were tucked away in a safe somewhere and these were just empty boxes.
This is by no means good news of course; these businesses still have to spend money repairing the damage, people who work in the shops and banks and the people who use them are inconvenienced, confidence is shattered and in general there is an air of disbelief and nervousness in our neighbourhood today.
Of course some knob also thought it was funny to burn a car in the middle of Douglas Square so the brand new asphalt that was put down a few months ago will be badly damaged and we are going to be tripping up over it for weeks to come, no doubt.
I know that our community will draw on its strength to repair both the physical and mental scars but I remain deeply concerned about the root causes of this unrest. That's a post for another day when time allows, but I am not convinced that it's just a case of the easy labels of 'mob rule' and 'anarchy' that the papers are suggesting.
14 comments:
I agree with you, it's very unsettling and the root causes are difficult to analyse or pinpoint, but "mob violence" and "gang thuggery" for me isn't getting to the roots of why this has happened. Your photo is very sobering and I am thinking of everyone involved in the cleanup today.
The other William Hill at the Creek Road end of the High Street looks like it got broken in to. This morning there were 2 trashed gambling machines on the pavement outside the missing door.
Everyone. Look out for your neighbourhoods. Take to the streets in defence of what is right and help the police.
When rioters see the streets full of decent people standing up and refusing to accept their mindless thuggishness, they will back down like the pathetic cowards they really are.
That square is an insult if pretends been a square, it looks a bit more like a car park, didn't you want a high street with more local bussinesses? for months people is being campaigning against the bookies and there was protests against tesco too, won't be me who defend them now
By 9 40 last night Deptford High St - Barclays and booking shop B & E and windows smashed...Gregg's bakery at 91 attacked (possibly because of wrong tv footage ?) and the pathetic vision of hoodies and women scrambling on the floor for the only thing there - crisp packets and bread rolls..Grim. But not having the big retailers has done us a favour
@txarles if you think I like that square you obviously haven't been reading much here! Neither do you know much about Deptford - Douglas Square is where the market is held, the high street is nearby. But although I don't like the square I will like it even less with a big burned up hole in the middle of it.
I found myself agreeing with most of the below, from the Telegraph of all places. Our political system forces the big parties to concentrate on the few thousand floating voters who are actually a fairly interchangable bunch. The people involved will grow up into a class will probably be of no interest to the party strategists. That's also a gap where the EDL/BNP can sneak in, just when we thought they were imploading.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8630533/Riots-the-underclass-lashes-out.html
I just know about Deptford what i have lived in the 10 years i have been around, i like your blog and i follow it, that doesn't mean we have to share every opinion,have a look at mine if you like, is quite diferent, what i meant about the square and the high street ( i know where they are, thanks) is that if maybe people had been more involved in its design and built , won't think about burning cars there, what are cars doing there anyway? and i went at night and saw the bookies, banks and tesco smashed, whoever who did it didn't attack houses, people, or other bussinesses, i think we had very selective rioters, if people would participate in the local life ,felt part of where they live and felt happy wouldn't use that destructive energy but a creative one,i am not going to condemn their acts because i understand where they come from , i hope to live somewhere where anyone feels like doing things like what happened yesterday night, but for that loads of things have to change before, and i take my opportunity to thank you about your blog, excuse if my tone earlier ofended you
@txarles no offence taken, and I certainly don't expect all my commenters to agree with me. Cars are often parked in the new square because the bollards at the end don't seem to be used regularly to block access - although it's possible this car could have been stolen for the purpose and driven there to be set alight. I agree that the rioters were very selective in the properties they attacked, which suggests political motives as opposed to the looting we saw elsewhere which targeted places selling high value electrical goods, clothing, etc. I'm not sure which disgusts me more.
No attacking the chains does not mean they had political motives, It just means they know what each brand means and what to expect in there.
Most of the independents on Deptford High street don't have anything worth nicking.
How many of the rioters care about diversity on the high street.
@anon the vast majority of businesses that were trashed were banks and betting shops. What were the rioters expecting to steal? Paying-in slips? Miniature pens? What does Greggs have that is worth stealing? We are not talking about mobile phone shops and trainers.
To the Dame, I think it is vile that you would be "relieved" that it was the chains that got trashed. It is terrible that it happened full stop. Even though these aren't independent shops, they are still vital to the functioning of the street. Have you ever tried to buy dinner on your way home late from work in the High Street? Not that I am pro-chain stores, but Tescos is the only store open and thus serves a vital role for us who live on the High Street.
BTW, they were looting the betting shops to get the flat screen tv's and I guess Greggs because it didn't have a security grille.
@anon 'relieved' is not the same as 'glad' and if you read on you will see that there is no way I condone or support this. However, incidents like this will not drive such chains away nor cause them such financial difficulties that they will be forced to close; for an independent business it could finish them off.
perhaps you should choose your language more carefully in future
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