The tireless work of Ada and Alfred Salter in transforming Bermondsey in the interwar years is hailed in a new book, writes Max Levenson...
The couple, who devoted their lives to helping the disadvantaged, believed in the health benefits open space and greenery could bring to what was then a slum-ridden docks area.
The huge impact they made is highlighted in the recently published Behind the Privet Hedge: Richard Sudell, the Suburban Garden and the Beautification of Britain, by social historian Michael Gilson.
Sudell shared the Salters’ Quaker faith and their passion for creating a decent environment for the borough’s largely poverty-stricken population, convinced that being in touch with nature was good for mind and body.
Their ambition was to plant trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables in every available space – even if it was just a humble window box to add a splash of colour to often drab surroundings – in some cases buying the land to do so. They also called for any new housing to provide gardens or some green space.
Author Michael Gilson said: “As I researched deeper into the story of this network of radicals in London who did all they could to lift thousands out of deprivation in the interwar years my admiration for Alfred and Ada grew enormously.
“The Salters sacrificed so much to pursue their calling to fight for justice for the poor of Bermondsey. Even though Alfred was a highly-qualified doctor they rejected the lifestyle this could have given them to live among the poor of Bermondsey and spent their lifetimes trying to lift their neighbours out of the downward spiral of poverty.
“Theirs is an inspirational story that should never be forgotten.”
Ada met GP Alfred at Bermondsey Settlement and they married in 1900. She was the Borough of Bermondsey’s first woman councillor, London’s first woman mayor, co-founded the Women’s Labour League, campaigned for a Green Belt around London and championed urban gardening, becoming President of the National Gardens Guild. Ada Salter Rose Garden in Southwark Park was named in her memory.
Alfred, driven by his religious and political beliefs, turned his back on a lucrative medical career in pre-NHS Harley Street to set up a practice amid the deprivation of Jamaica Road. He was elected Labour MP for Bermondsey West in 1922, lost the seat a year later, won it back in 1924 and was re-elected in 1929, 1931 and 1935.
Their only child, Joyce, died aged eight in 1910 when an outbreak of scarlet fever swept through the area.
Behind the Privet Hedge: Richard Sudell, the Suburban Garden and the Beautification of Britain, published by Reaktion Books Ltd, is available from Reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/behind-the-privet-hedge, price £16.99
