GREEN CHAIN: from ERITH to ABBEY WOODS and on towards Central London
ST.JOHN THE BAPTIST Church
FRANKS PARK
From LESNES ABBEY PARK
WILLIAM MORRIS MEMORIAL
Look South for WILLIAM MORRIS’s RED HOUSE
CARAVAN CLUB
Federation Road. Federation?
Federation Road in Abbey Wood, Greenwich, gets its name from the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS). The RACS built many houses in the area and named streets after its brand names, including Federation Road. Other street names with similar origins include Crumpsall Street, Congress Road, and Owenite Street.
The BOSTALL ESTATE
The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) was a significant housing developer in London, particularly known for building homes for workers. They developed the Bostall Estate in Abbey Wood and acquired the Well Hall Estate in Eltham, renaming it the Progress Estate. The RACS also played a role in the redevelopment of the Royal Arsenal site in Woolwich, now known as Royal Arsenal Riverside.
Robert Mackay (chairman of the RACS) and its Works Department led by architect Frank Bethell constructing over a thousand homes between 1900 and 1914. In 1925 the RACS bought the 1250-home Royal Arsenal workers estate at Well Hall in Eltham from the Government, which it then renamed the Progress Estate.
RACS: "Each for all and all for each"
The RACS was always one of the more political co-operative societies. Its motto was "Each for All and All for Each"; it employed a Political Secretary, published magazines and newspapers (such as Comradeship and The Wheatsheaf)[9] and housed Basque refugees from the Spanish Civil War (see also Milk for Spain). The RACS supported the campaign for working-class political representation (see Labour Representation Committee) and the election of Will Crooks as MP for Woolwich.
In 1929, the RACS affiliated directly to the Labour Party, rather than to the Co-operative Party as was more usual for such societies. It also affiliated to the London Labour Party and various borough and local labour parties.[10] As well as the usual co-op dividend to its customer-members, the RACS also paid a "bonus to labour" – for instance paying the tradesmen building the Bostall Estate a halfpenny an hour above the trade union rate. Overall control of the RACS rested with a full-time Management Committee elected by society members under proportional representation.