It was also responsible for the conversion of open spaces into children's playgrounds and the encouragement of window boxes by the local residents.

These initiatives generated London-wide interest and have left an unusual and agreeable legacy.

This view looks north from the junction with Webster Road. It is exceptional not so much for the style of housing - small flat fronted terraces of the mid 19th century were relentlessly typical of working-class areas of inner London - but for the avenue of trees.

The Bermondsey Borough Council had a committee, the Beautification Committee, which undertook programmes of tree planting on the area's streets. It planted many thousands of trees, mainly poplar, as seen here, and planes, throughout the 1920s and 1930s.