From: Mike Mills
by email
Peckham Rye Park – The Lake
I remember the dog pond, situated near to the former Prisoner of War huts. During the summer holidays we would fish for sticklebacks with small floats and tiny hooks. There was real excitement on one occasion when a lad caught an 8″ roach from the pond. I never saw that repeated, and it was a sad day when the pond was drained and filled in to make a car park.
Peckham Rye was a great place for kids in the 50s and 60s, especially if you came from the Old Kent Road as I did. Besides the duck pond and the dog pond, there were two other ponds: one was at the southernmost part of the park, almost opposite Friern School. Before it was filled in we used to catch newts there. The other pond was adjacent to the open-air swimming pool, almost opposite Austin’s and the Rye Hotel public house.
Does anyone remember Wilson’s Fair? It was on the corner of Nunhead Lane, close to the swimming pool, almost opposite Banfield’s Coach Station – the fair was tiny and open all year.
