The A406, or North Circular Road, is a major orbital route through North London, connecting industrial, residential and commercial landscapes from Chiswick to Beckton. For several years, I drove daily beneath a gantry between Ilford and Barking bearing the spray-painted words “10FOOT LOVES A406” Suspended above three lanes of traffic, the tag became a small but enduring landmark—a moment of recognition within the repetition of the daily commute.
When I began photographing the area in September 2025, the tag had disappeared. Its absence became the starting point for a wider exploration of the landscape around this stretch of the A406: the fenced remains of a former sports ground and its enormous gasholder; the industrial sprawl of the Roding Trading Estate; and, beyond it, the quieter landscape of the River Roding.
The work is not concerned with graffiti or the road itself, but with how fleeting interventions become embedded in place and memory. 10FOOT LOVES A406 was more than a tag. It was a declaration—a private gesture made public within the noise and movement of the city. Now that it has gone, it remains as an echo of the place I remember.
