Well it’s finally happened. Like that scatty aunt you loved dearly but never bothered to visit, Elephant and Castle shopping centre is finally gone forever, and we would like to mark the event with a visual celebration. 

The shopping centre was the sight of many ‘firsts’ for staff here at Runoff HQ and will be hugely missed. For example, it was the first time we ever had our shoes nicked at a bowling alley, the first time we were ever frisked before entering a restaurant, and our first ever experience of being sexually aroused by a massage chair.  

The centre was also reminiscent of a bygone era of truly one stop shopping and formica. Where else in London could you buy Christmas ornaments in June, have your phone unlocked, score plantains and have a vegan sausage roll all under one roof?  To be serious, while never fully realising it’s potential even after 55 of years of existence, the wonderfully eclectic centre served a vital function to parts of the population often overlooked by retailers and put food on the tables of the people who worked there. In addition to offering food and clothing from around the world which acted as symbols of our diverse community. 

Some of the smaller independent retailers have set up shop in a temporary structure in Elephant Street, behind the centre. The iconic Elephant sculpture will also find a new home there. However, it is only a matter of time until they close and we’re left with another identikit shopping centre catering to a small element of our varied population. But please remember a better era by the photos we took several years ago. And a mind boggling illustration at the bottom of the Elephant of the future.