A one man melting pot

One of my work highlights has to be working with the community to improve the Blue Market in Bermondsey which gave me the opportunity to work alongside a real character called Russell Dryden who sadly passed away last week on 13 May 2024.?

Russell was a unique character who spent part of his week holding court on his fish stall at the Blue market, and part of the week as the founding Chief Executive of the Blue Bermondsey Business Improvement District (BID), which he nursed from a trading association in 2004.?

His work ethic was phenomenal getting up daily with his family to banter his way around Billingsgate fish market in the small hours of the morning. He would then haul his barrow onto the market square and spend the day in his trademark fish coat flitting between BID meetings to make the Blue a better place, and selling fresh fish to his adoring public.?

We first met at part of the Low Line project which was conceived by a local resident to open up a walking route alongside the iconic Victorian viaduct which connects his beloved Blue to Bankside. Ever the entrepreneur, Russell was always lobbying to connect the Blue to the rest of Southwark, and to prospect for investment for his community.?

Russell struck gold in 2019 when he and partners secured a grant of ￡2m from the Mayor of London to invest in the town centre, and I was cajoled into being the midwife to help them deliver the grant. Project meetings were always lively and I was always struck by how hard working and professional Russell was, often working late into the night to produce really impressive pieces of work to maintain our momentum. An example was the he briefs he created for the artistic murals which led to some brilliant commissions, including the People’s Mural which was won by Paul Butler of Cable Street fame.

An abiding memory I will always have is how open and welcoming Russell was of all cultures. I loved seeing his interactions on the fish stall with residents from every corner of the globe, with a special memory of his regular Vietnamese customers. For me Russell encapsulates the magic of London, a born and bred grafter who is so proud of the history of his place and proud to be part of the melting pot of cultures. Russell helped facilitate the Castellers of London to build their human pyramid alongside the new clock tower at the Blue, a Latin market with Juan Carlos Bejarano, as well as pioneering an annual Japanese Okinawa festival with the projects architect Takeshi Hayatsu.?

As his close friend and partner Luds van den Belt noted to me last week, Russell was the king of songs, stories, quotes and one liners. I loved hearing him regale his stories about the Anchorite who started the long history of the Blue. We loved it when he brought out his guitar to sing us songs at project meetings. I would never tire of his routine where he would nonchalantly toss a piece of fish in the air for his old friend “Old One Eye,” a seagull he cared for since a baby. One Eye would appear from no where and catch the fish before it hit the ground, giving Russell’s rugged face an extra crease of approval.?

Russell leaves a large hole at the Blue but as his trusted friend and right hand man Pedro Romero sums up his legacy perfectly: “People asked me whether there’ll be a memorial in the square for Russell, and I reply,: look around and see the legacy of Russell everywhere, that’s Russell’s memorial.”

Check out this nice obituary in the Southwark News including this cracking video.