Make do and mend
ANEW campaign has been launched to protect and restore the unique metal fences of south London that were built using Second World War stretchers. Rows of uniform black steel-and-mesh fences, sometimes rusting or misshapen, that tend to surround postwar architecture are perhaps rarely acknowledged by passersby, but they’re a part of London’s history—formed using emergency stretchers used by Air Raid Precautions officers during the Blitz.
Notoriously uncomfortable (complaints were made), each stretcher was formed of two steel poles, both bent at either end to provide a tableleg elevation from the ground, with steel mesh in between, and more than 600,000 were produced in the lead-up to the war—evidently, the Government expected severe civilian casualties. They were deemed easier to disinfect than the canvas and wooden contraptions used during the First World War, particularly in the event of a gas attack, as they didn’t contain any fabric, as well as being stronger and stackable.
As many railings had been removed for munitions and weaponry before 1939, once the war was over, the stretchers seemed an ideal replacement.
Today, they can be found as fencing in areas such as outside the Oval Cricket Ground, as well as in Kennington, Camberwell, Deptford, Southwark, Dulwich and east London.
‘They often have imprints and are a bit concave, so they look damaged, but these are actually where people’s body shapes have left a mark in them. You can see where people’s shoulders and hips would have been,’ explains Peckham architect Benny O’looney.
Recently, some local authorities have removed them and others are desperately in need of conservation. Local historians are now calling for councils to protect their little-known stretcher fences and architectural conservationist Rosie Shaw has set up the Stretcher Railing Society (www.stretcherrailings.com) to raise awareness.