# Five things you miss about Brixton



## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

I've just posted up a piece on Brixton Buzz where I reminisce over the five things I'm currently missing most about Brixton.

I'm sure there's a load of other things that should also be on that list, so let's here your choices!







http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/08/...t-tube-arcade-cooltan-the-grosvenor-and-more/

*minor typo corrected


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## Belushi (Aug 26, 2014)

I'd completely forgotten about the tube station arcade!


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## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

Love this Twitter comment: 





> I've been married twice, one wedding party was in The Queen, the other in Bradys!  Many after parties in CoolTan! Happydayz!


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## buscador (Aug 26, 2014)

Robills International.
Robills International.
Robills International.
Robills International.
Robills International.
etc


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

editor said:


> I've just posted up a piece on *Brixton Buyzz* where I reminisce over the five things I'm currently missing most about Brixton.



I can't find the site. What are you selling?


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## clandestino (Aug 26, 2014)

I miss the second hand record shop that was in the arches. I'd love to go there again. 

I miss the Queen as well. And The Grosvenor.


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## boohoo (Aug 26, 2014)

The second hand market - a huge loss.


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## Thimble Queen (Aug 26, 2014)

Raves at Arch 269. Sunday mornings in St Matthews. J Day. The Grosvenor. Cheap rent. Various squatters of central Brixton.


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

I'm starting to miss the look of horror in people's eyes when I tell them I live in Brixton.


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## Mr Retro (Aug 26, 2014)

Still gutted the Canterbury will have to be added to this list soon


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## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

Those Christmas concerts at the Grosvenor were unbelievably moving. They had a proper Christmas spirit without any of the tackiness. 
RIP Mike.


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## Thimble Queen (Aug 26, 2014)

I also miss the old phoenix. The prices went up and the portions got smaller.


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## Thimble Queen (Aug 26, 2014)

I also liked the old fountain better. And the wall opp KFC. Me and the fella had one of our first chicken dinner dates there nearly nine years ago.


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## trabuquera (Aug 26, 2014)

Woolworths


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## gabi (Aug 26, 2014)

The brixton stinker
The walkin down the street and invariably seeing a partner in crime
32p man. In fact I got to know lots of those guys, not just him. Some excellent people.
The windmill
My mates

And the grumpy fucker Brian at the Canterbury who used to throw me out for the crime of being a kiwi whenever Ireland played NZ


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## pinkmonkey (Aug 26, 2014)

20 years since I lived there, I miss the lido and the market (as I knew them then).


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Rushy said:


> I'm starting to miss the look of horror in people's eyes when I tell them I live in Brixton.



It wasn't just horror though, it was pity and scorn and a look you sometimes got that made you feel like a piece of shit they'd just scraped off their shoes 

You probably need to add you miss taxi drivers telling you they don't go South of the River and hastily beating a retreat


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## gabi (Aug 26, 2014)

The lido got a bit shit. Hugely expensive and you couldn't bring your own booze in anymore.


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

poptyping said:


> I also liked the old fountain better.


I was going to mention that. When they were about to start demolition I asked whether there were any plans for it and if it was going to be scrapped, whether I could have it. I was told it was going into storage. Next I saw it it was a tangled mess of stainless steel and mosaic tiles.


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## Libertad (Aug 26, 2014)

30 years since I lived there, I miss my younger self.  Desperate times but good times.


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> It wasn't just horror though, it was pity and scorn and a look you sometimes got that made you feel like a piece of shit they'd just scraped off their shoes
> 
> You probably need to add you miss taxi drivers telling you they don't go South of the River and hastily beating a retreat


I definitely don't miss the last bit (although I miss the price of the rare occassions when they agreed)!


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## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

pinkmonkey said:


> 20 years since I lived there, I miss the lido and the market (as I knew them then).


I do miss the Lido of old, where you could relax in the sun with a pile of beers.


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## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

poptyping said:


> I also liked the old fountain better. And the wall opp KFC. Me and the fella had one of our first chicken dinner dates there nearly nine years ago.


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## paolo (Aug 26, 2014)

Back in Mass' heyday, me and and a girl were "getting on well". We left and carried on, on one of the benches.

It was a little while later when it transpired that what she thought was my (invited) bum groping wasn't in fact me, but a bloke lying under our bench offering a 'helping hand'.

Not snogging on those benches ever again.


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## el-ahrairah (Aug 26, 2014)

i guess i miss the feel of brixton, as it was the first few years i was here.  it didn't feel the same the last couple of years.  that's a bit nebulous really, and part of it was me changing, but it was nicer before.


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## Thimble Queen (Aug 26, 2014)

I also miss the old offlines that were full to the brim with urbanites


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## hiccup (Aug 26, 2014)

poptyping said:


> I also miss the old offlines that were full to the brim with urbanites


It was all donwhill once it left The Ritzy


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## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

hiccup said:


> It was all donwhill once it left The Ritzy


I'll never forget the complaints from cinema 5 when the volume went over 'extremely modest', or the time they presented me with a _carousel CD player_ to DJ off! Each song took about 10 seconds to start up on that thing!


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## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

It was such a sad sight seeing The Queens being pulled down.


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## pinkmonkey (Aug 26, 2014)

editor said:


> I do miss the Lido of old, where you could relax in the sun with a pile of beers.


I haven't been since then, I remember being in a gaggle of girls and all getting pissed and stoned, it's changed a bit then?


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## OvalhouseDB (Aug 26, 2014)

Don't Panic Cards
The bookshop - can't remember it's name..
Yes, Robills. Robills was marvellous. I still have some huge stainless steel bowls and some plastic bowls in the shape of lettuce leaves from Robills
The Ritzy serving massive, cheap, home made slabs of carrot cake to eat at half time in excellent Sunday afternoon double bills (2 full length top features)


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Robill's obviously
The little row of shops (especially the Chinese one and the candle shop) in Station Arcade
The music from the record shop in the tube station on exiting the tube
The good old days of the Comedy Pit and Sunday lunchtime blues sessions in the George IV and the weekend sessions of The White Horse, followed by George Canning followed by Mingles
Fads (and the other decorating place opposite)
The old Lambeth Country Show (when it was much smaller and you were guaranteed to just bump into people you hadn't seen for ages without having to organise a meeting place)


Oh, by the way, Jeans City is going to close.  They've been in Brixton for decades


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## Pickman's model (Aug 26, 2014)

the jacket potato shop
the 121 centre
bradys


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## Libertad (Aug 26, 2014)

I miss being taught to play dominos properly in the Railway and being a member of the Brixton Youth Theatre. Our team leader was Don Warrington.


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## 19sixtysix (Aug 26, 2014)

editor said:


>



In the days before camera phones I always remember looking out the window of my bus watching someone having a shower bollock naked in the fountain.


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## christonabike (Aug 26, 2014)

[QUOTE="Oh, by the way, Jeans City is going to close.  They've been in Brixton for decades [/QUOTE]

I was speaking to the owner and they are moving to Streatham High Street, rent pushed up he said and he'd have to open a bar to make it work - I shall visit him in Streatham for my jeans needs


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

christonabike said:


> [QUOTE="Oh, by the way, Jeans City is going to close.  They've been in Brixton for decades



I was speaking to the owner and they are moving to Streatham High Street, rent pushed up he said and he'd have to open a bar to make it work - I shall visit him in Streatham for my jeans needs[/QUOTE]

Yeah I know he's moving to Streatham.  Had a good chat with him, but can't say about what in public


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

19sixtysix said:


> In the days before camera phones I always remember looking out the window of my bus watching someone having a shower bollock naked in the fountain.


I hope they were wearing sandals . There was no end of nasty businesses in there for a while...


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## Ms Ordinary (Aug 26, 2014)

Not really the things I miss most, just trying to limit myself to things that haven't already been mentioned:
Kings Rice & Spice
The doorman at Bradys who looked like a tiny, wizened Fred Astaire
The squat - it definitely wasn't Cooltan, this was later - that had it's own labels for it's homemade wine.
The geezer later to be known as Hatboy, working the door of the Dogstar, in a hat.
It appears approximately 1997 may have been my 'golden age of Brixton'


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 26, 2014)

boohoo said:


> The second hand market - a huge loss.


I got my first Chopper bike from there in 1982 for £15.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 26, 2014)

Frank Johnsons sports shop on Ferndale road and Jean city on Brixton road. Woolworths,Our price/Red records and Brady's.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 26, 2014)

editor said:


> It was such a sad sight seeing The Queens being pulled down.



This was a lively and interesting place and housed some real characters.


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## Thimble Queen (Aug 26, 2014)

poptyping said:


> Raves at Arch 269. Sunday mornings in St Matthews. J Day. The Grosvenor. Cheap rent. Various squatters of central Brixton.



Well I've just been invited to a day time party at one of the arches next weekend. The party sky pixie was listening *beams*


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## RoyReed (Aug 26, 2014)

Not necessarily in this order:

The RamJam Club
The Granville Arcade
The wolf-whistling mynah bird in the pet shop in Granville Arcade
The covered arcading in Electric Avenue
The rum bar in the alley next to M&S


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> Not necessarily in this order:
> 
> The RamJam Club
> The Granville Arcade
> ...



Oh, I remember the rum bar, but can't remember what it was called


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## RoyReed (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Oh, I remember the rum bar, but can't remember what it was called


Me neither - it was quite expensive, but they had some beautiful rum!


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Oh, I remember the rum bar, but can't remember what it was called


The Brixtonian. Run by a very camp chap called Vincent.
He went bust and then opened another in Beehive Place (which I was thinking of mentioning on this list): Brixtonian II and also known as the Brixton Havana. Not sure what happened to that. 
He then had a stint playing panto dames.

Random fact - Vincent was the creator of the black soap "Brothers and Sisters".


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## editor (Aug 26, 2014)

The Brixtonian very nearly made it on to that list, but I couldn't find a photo of it. Amazing rum selection!


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Rushy said:


> The Brixtonian
> He then had a stint playing panto dames.
> 
> Random fact - Vincent was the creator of the black soap "Brothers and Sisters".



That's the one.  Didn't know that about the owner


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> That's the one.  Didn't know that about the owner


So, I just looked him up and found a little blog of his which says:


> 1980s saw Vincent move to Brixton with his young family – just after the riots. For the Osborne’s this was an opportunity to fulfil and ambition an eatery offering high quality Caribbean food, and a rum shop with over 200 varieties of rums. The Brixtonian was born, and since then has won “Time Out” Bar of the Year with excellent reviews from Harpers and Queens, Vogue, GQ, to Virgin In Flight a “must go when in London”. Brixtonian Back A Yard, in Covent Gardens and Brixton Havana Club in Brixton. The icing on the cake came when we were chose as one of the 100 best Bars in the World.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

seems he was in the RAF as well decades ago and also assistant organist at a church in Thornton Heath.


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> seems he was in the RAF as well decades ago and also assistant organist at a church in Thornton Heath.


 I really can't imagine him in the RAF!


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Rushy said:


> I really can't imagine him in the RAF!



As a community actions officer!


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> As a community actions officer!


Is that a bit like a panto dame?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Rushy said:


> I really can't imagine him in the RAF!


Communication!

Based in singapore


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## Rushy (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Communication!
> 
> Based in singapore


I never would have guessed that. Interesting guy.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Sorry telecommunications, nothing about communications officer.
https://touch.www.linkedin.com/?ses...k.linkedin.com/pub/vincent-osborne/1b/a88/825


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Robill's obviously
> The little row of shops (especially the Chinese one and the candle shop) in Station Arcade
> The music from the record shop in the tube station on exiting the tube
> The good old days of the Comedy Pit and Sunday lunchtime blues sessions in the George IV and the weekend sessions of The White Horse, followed by George Canning followed by Mingles
> ...



Do you mean Jeans corner along from the job centre? I remember jean city being opposite and along from the Beehive.


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## Citizen66 (Aug 26, 2014)

christonabike said:


> I was speaking to the owner and they are moving to Streatham High Street, rent pushed up he said and he'd have to open a bar to make it work - I shall visit him in Streatham for my jeans needs


Welcome back!

Four and a half years is a healthy lurk.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 26, 2014)

Pickman's model said:


> the jacket potato shop
> the 121 centre
> bradys


I forgot the potato shop,good call.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Do you mean Jeans corner along from the job centre? I remember jean city being opposite and along from the Beehive.



Whichever is same side as job shop.  Even though there's only 1 nowadays, I still can't remember which one was which and which one remains!


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Citizen66 said:


> Welcome back!
> 
> Four and a half years is a healthy lurk.



Isn't it.  I just assumed he'd been posting on threads I don't go on.


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## Voley (Aug 26, 2014)

han and Jan are the only things I miss about Brixton. Very glad to be shot of the rest of it.


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## Kanda (Aug 26, 2014)

Just some friends.


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## Thimble Queen (Aug 26, 2014)

Sometimes I miss the George


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## Tricky Skills (Aug 26, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Frank Johnsons sports shop on Ferndale road and Jean city on Brixton road. Woolworths,Our price/Red records and Brady's.



Good shout. Closed March 2008 

A proper sports shop, something of a rarity now. The trainers were actually sports trainers. My trips were usually for new flights for my darts. A fantastic place.


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## Citizen66 (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Isn't it.  I just assumed he'd been posting on threads I don't go on.


No flouncing drama either. Just 'screw you guys, I'm not posting' for ALMOST FIVE YEARS!!!


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Citizen66 said:


> No flouncing drama either. Just 'screw you guys, I'm not posting' for ALMOST FIVE YEARS!!!



And then strolls nonbank in as if he's just been away for a weekend


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## Citizen66 (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> And then strolls nonbank in as if he's just been away for a weekend


'zactly.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Really should stick to typing on laptop. Nonbank?


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## Citizen66 (Aug 26, 2014)

I read it as nonchalantly


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## Thimble Queen (Aug 26, 2014)

In the bad old days, many of my friends lived within walking distance.


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## Citizen66 (Aug 26, 2014)

That only sounds bizarre when discussed on the internet.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Citizen66 said:


> I read it as nonchalantly



Well it wasn't meant to be but it fits his reappearance!


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## Citizen66 (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Well it wasn't meant to be but it fits his reappearance!


What was it meant to be?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

poptyping said:


> Sometimes I miss the George



Nothing wrong with that. It was great for a lock in


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 26, 2014)

Citizen66 said:


> What was it meant to be?


 
right back.  Don't ask me how it ended up as that!


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## Citizen66 (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> right back.  Don't ask me how it ended up as that!


Auto correct can be dangerous! I'm just waiting for the day that I call my mam a cunt.

/sorry for derail


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## leanderman (Aug 26, 2014)

Tricky Skills said:


> Good shout. Closed March 2008
> 
> A proper sports shop, something of a rarity now. The trainers were actually sports trainers. My trips were usually for new flights for my darts. A fantastic place.



Big loss. Can never be bothered to trek to Herne Hill Intersport.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 26, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Whichever is same side as job shop.  Even though there's only 1 nowadays, I still can't remember which one was which and which one remains!



Jeans corner is the one that's still there! Jeans city was next door to the Halifax.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 27, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Jeans corner is the one that's still there! Jeans city was next door to the Halifax.



ah right.  I bought jeans in there less than 2 weeks ago and still can't remember which one it is


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## TopCat (Aug 27, 2014)

paolo said:


> Back in Mass' heyday, me and and a girl were "getting on well". We left and carried on, on one of the benches.
> 
> It was a little while later when it transpired that what she thought was my (invited) bum groping wasn't in fact me, but a bloke lying under our bench offering a 'helping hand'.
> 
> Not snogging on those benches ever again.


Urban post of the decade.I salute you mate.


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## TopCat (Aug 27, 2014)

I miss the Railway Tavern, The Atlantic, 121, cheap speed, fighting the police, 50p tube man, Kwiksave and sitting stoned all day in some record shop buying reggae.


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## aussw9 (Aug 27, 2014)

I miss the rest is noise pub... plenty of live music and a decent variety of beers


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## editor (Aug 27, 2014)

aussw9 said:


> I miss the rest is noise pub... plenty of live music and a decent variety of beers


Yeah, I liked that place. Although it looked like it could be hipster hell, in reality it was a fairly mixed crowd with loads of Goose survivors still staking their claim.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 27, 2014)

I also miss Times furnishing,  Pop in after school and jump around on the king size beds and hide in the wardrobes.


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## Virtual Blue (Aug 27, 2014)

The community BJJ/ MMA gym off Cowley Road.

My fighting buddies who have returned home or moved to other parts in London.

I prefer Brixton 15 years ago tbh.


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## uk benzo (Aug 27, 2014)

Home James taxi office on Coldharbour Lane.


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## Dr. Furface (Aug 27, 2014)




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## Sirena (Aug 27, 2014)

Pickman's model said:


> the jacket potato shop
> the 121 centre
> bradys


The jacket potato shop did a beautiful spinach and butter bean filling.


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## shifting gears (Aug 27, 2014)

I simply miss living in Brixton. Priced out almost a year a year ago, having spent the last decade there. Prospects of ever returning: my arse.


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## Sirena (Aug 27, 2014)

I miss the random crazies in a funny sort of way.  The bloke who hit me over the head with a length of 2x4 for no reason, the woman who, without warning, used to punch passers-by, the crack-heads dashing across the main road and miraculously missing all the speeding traffic, the preacher with the screwed-up eyes....


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## leanderman (Aug 28, 2014)

Sirena said:


> I miss the random crazies in a funny sort of way.  The bloke who hit me over the head with a length of 2x4 for no reason, the woman who, without warning, used to punch passers-by, the crack-heads dashing across the main road and miraculously missing all the speeding traffic, the preacher with the screwed-up eyes....



Nostalgie de la boue!


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## Tankus (Aug 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> I forgot the potato shop,good call.


Same here .. Fav lunch ...jollof rice ........( no spud funnily enough )


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## Vibrant-Hubb (Aug 28, 2014)

I miss the feeling.
I miss the feeling of a special place.

Jackets - big plate glass windows to watch all life go by.
Daisy Chain at the Fridge.
Funny conversations in the street.
The second-hand market.
Terminus Cafe - in Station Arcade (orange and red formica I think).

All the laughing we did. The absence of normality. Squats and artists and the unity of spirit amongst the different.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 28, 2014)

Tankus said:


> Same here .. Fav lunch ...jollof rice ........( no spud funnily enough )


Yes the rice was good too,A bit spicy i recall.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 28, 2014)

Vibrant-Hubb said:


> Terminus Cafe - in Station Arcade (orange and red formica I think).



YES!  Definitely orange, I mentioned them here 

Glad someone else remembers them

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...at-december-2012.302834/page-29#post-11808264


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## trabuquera (Aug 28, 2014)

I don't much miss the element of menace, but the noisy, bizarre, unexpected mayhem quotient in the Tube station has definitely fallen off as well. You used to be able to spot some proper sights in there.I miss visitors arriving at my door with their mouths hanging open asking "what is going on in Brixton, how do you deal with all the madness?"


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## Rushy (Aug 28, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> I don't much miss the element of menace, but the noisy, bizarre, unexpected mayhem quotient in the Tube station has definitely fallen off as well. You used to be able to spot some proper sights in there.I miss visitors arriving at my door with their mouths hanging open asking "what is going on in Brixton, how do you deal with all the madness?"


Oh yes. I have a fantastic print by a local artist called "Arriving at Brixton" which illustrated that mayhem perfectly!

You've reminded me of one I thought of this morning - you always used to get a seat on the tube in Brixton, whatever the time. Now they have to close the gates to control overcrowding in the mornings (so I'm told - I can't remember the last time I used it early in the morning).


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 28, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Now they have to close the gates to control overcrowding in the mornings (so I'm told - I can't remember the last time I used it early in the morning).



You're joking


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 28, 2014)

trabuquera said:


> I don't much miss the element of menace, but the noisy, bizarre, unexpected mayhem quotient in the Tube station has definitely fallen off as well. You used to be able to spot some proper sights in there.I miss visitors arriving at my door with their mouths hanging open asking "what is going on in Brixton, how do you deal with all the madness?"



I remember an article written in one of those job magazines like _Girl About Town_ decades ago.  I think it was written by Robert Elms or someone like that and it was exactly on the madness of Brixton Tube


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## Winot (Aug 28, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> You're joking



No, he really is that lazy.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 28, 2014)

I made it a point to always get jobs where I could start at 10.00pm so I never had to endure rush hour full on


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## Rushy (Aug 28, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I made it a point to always get jobs where I could start at 10.00pm so I never had to endure rush hour full on


A long while back I lived by Clapham North tube and still walked to Stockwell to get on the northern line - it was utterly impossible to get in to any carriage.


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## tufty79 (Aug 28, 2014)

shifting gears said:


> I simply miss living in Brixton <snip> Prospects of ever returning: my arse.


This.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 28, 2014)

Rushy said:


> A long while back I lived by Clapham North tube and still walked to Stockwell to get on the northern line - it was utterly impossible to get in to any carriage.



Know how you feel.  I was in Clapham Common before I moved to Brixton in the 80s.  Total nightmare


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## shakespearegirl (Aug 28, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> You're joking



It happened on Wednesday this week


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 28, 2014)

shakespearegirl said:


> It happened on Wednesday this week



What time is that happening then?


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## Pickman's model (Aug 28, 2014)

two more: the law centre, which used to be on brixton road near the mcd's - spent many happy afternoons there watching poll tax riot videos when it was the hq for the trafalgar square defendants campaign, and the bookshop which used to be on atlantic road, iirc a black bookshop with an interesting politics selection.


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## elmpp (Aug 28, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Oh yes. I have a fantastic print by a local artist called "Arriving at Brixton" which illustrated that mayhem perfectly!
> 
> You've reminded me of one I thought of this morning - you always used to get a seat on the tube in Brixton, whatever the time. Now they have to close the gates to control overcrowding in the mornings (so I'm told - I can't remember the last time I used it early in the morning).


Who is this print by Rushy?


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## Rushy (Aug 28, 2014)

elmpp said:


> Who is this print by Rushy?


Staffan.
www.gnosspelius.com/
Lovely guy and stupidly talented.
Unfortunately the print is pretty old and not on there. I think he thought it was a bit crap and reused or destroyed the plate.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 28, 2014)

Rushy said:


> A long while back I lived by Clapham North tube and still walked to Stockwell to get on the northern line - it was utterly impossible to get in to any carriage.


I tried to get on there last week at 9am not a chance going northbound.So i came up with a cunning plan(or was it)Instead of walking to Stockwell i jumped on and went a few stops southbound to Clapham South in the hope of squeezing on there,Every train that pulled in was full to the rafters so i gave up and walked back home. I find it pointless going to Brixton nowadays unless its after 8.45.


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## Rushy (Aug 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> I tried to get on there last week at 9am not a chance going northbound.So i came up with a cunning plan(or was it)Instead of walking to Stockwell i jumped on and went a few stops southbound to Clapham South in the hope of squeezing on there,Every train that pulled in was full to the rafters so i gave up and walked back home.


Ha. Nice try! In the end I gave up and bought a Vespa.

ETA Which I more or less wrote off getting knocked off on Bedford Road a week later. Replaced it then wrecked it the next day in a massive pothole behind Tottenham Court Road. Moving close to Brixton tube probably saved my life!


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 28, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Ha. Nice try! In the end I gave up and bought a Vespa.


Luckily it was a one off, I salute any person that has to endure that every morning.


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## SarfLondoner (Aug 28, 2014)

The Lonsdale sports shop on Acre lane (now bambulu) is another place i dearly miss.


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## shakespearegirl (Aug 29, 2014)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> What time is that happening then?



0845 to 0900, I'm getting the bus to work at the moment (if I can get on one in rush hour as people are too lazy to go upstairs so many a half full bus goes past) but alerted mr shakes who was still at home.


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## Red Cat (Aug 29, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Staffan.
> www.gnosspelius.com/
> Lovely guy and stupidly talented.
> Unfortunately the print is pretty old and not on there. I think he thought it was a bit crap and reused or destroyed the plate.



Oh, I really like those! Brixton prints are after the bears and cabs and fish. All lovely.


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## Rushy (Aug 29, 2014)

Red Cat said:


> Oh, I really like those! Brixton prints are after the bears and cabs and fish. All lovely.


They are great aren't they. I think those ones came out of a "residency" in one of the market units a few years ago.


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## Jangleballix (Aug 29, 2014)

Sitting in the Ritzy idly waiting for the afternoon show to start watching the camera obscura effect of the open door projecting the traffic outside onto the screen.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 29, 2014)

shakespearegirl said:


> 0845 to 0900, I'm getting the bus to work at the moment (if I can get on one in rush hour as people are too lazy to go upstairs so many a half full bus goes past) but alerted mr shakes who was still at home.



Hate it when people do that 

My record for waiting for a bus there was 30 buses before I gave up.  That was decades ago, so even fewer buses then


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## christonabike (Aug 29, 2014)

Citizen66 said:


> Welcome back!
> 
> Four and a half years is a healthy lurk.



Cheers! Fuck all's changed!

What I miss, tricky. Haven't been chucked out of a Brixton club for a few years

Deffo George IV
The James Dean cut-out over the printers on Brixton Hill
People appreciating music at the Windmill, now half the crowd talk loudly, barge to the front for thirty seconds and then barge out again
Free the Weed in Brockwell Park
The different tribes that used to congregate at the Lido, you could take beer in with you no hassle, get stoned, swim and there used to be ravey parties


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## spanglechick (Aug 29, 2014)

PRoD 

and more generally, that regular coming-together of the usual suspects.  I suppose DHFC games begin to do that now - but it's not the same as a night out with dancing and seats and music and outfits.


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## OvalhouseDB (Aug 29, 2014)

PRIDE being in Brockwell Park.
The Mayall Road Street Party
The roti shop that used to be on Dulwich rd towards the Herne Hill end
The shop in Granville Arcade that sold pure shea butter


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## editor (Aug 29, 2014)

christonabike said:


> People appreciating music at the Windmill, now half the crowd talk loudly, barge to the front for thirty seconds and then barge out again


That's to grab that all important Instagram shot.


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## friendofdorothy (Aug 30, 2014)

OvalhouseDB said:


> PRIDE being in Brockwell Park.


oh yes! The first Europride in 1992 was there - and the fireworks were brilliant. Makes me feel very nostalgic. 

Also miss:
the night club in basement on Brighton Terrace that had lots of clubnights including FIST
and Atlantic Silks that closed last year
and the old bra dept in Morleys with the women with tape measures round their necks. 
and shoe shops - there used to be loads and now there are none
and Robills International of course


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## Rushy (Aug 30, 2014)

friendofdorothy said:


> oh yes! The first Europride in 1992 was there - and the fireworks were brilliant. Makes me feel very nostalgic.
> 
> Also miss:
> the night club in basement on Brighton Terrace that had lots of clubnights including FIST
> ...


Do you mean Substation and its (in)famous Y front nights?


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## friendofdorothy (Aug 30, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Do you mean Substation and its (in)famous Y front nights?


Yes it was called Substation - wasn't it called something else before that. 
Obviously I never went to any Y front nights. Where they infamous?


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## Rushy (Aug 30, 2014)

friendofdorothy said:


> Yes it was called Substation - wasn't it called something else before that.
> Obviously I never went to any Y front nights. Where they infamous?


Much talked about, I seem to recall. Never went myself. The only time I went to Substation was with a gay lady friend and we were turned away at the door. She kicked off about discrimination against straight men, etc. After she had finished making a scene the bouncer said it was men only.


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## editor (Aug 30, 2014)

Substation was fantastic. Great club.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 30, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Much talked about, I seem to recall. Never went myself. The only time I went to Substation was with a gay lady friend and we were turned away at the door. She kicked off about discrimination against straight men, etc. After she had finished making a scene the bouncer said it was men only.



Oh, I wonder if that's why I was turned away when a male friend took me


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## Tricky Skills (Aug 30, 2014)

I was at the lido today. I realised how sterile and bland it is looking. I miss all the artwork and plants that were placed around the poolside while Paddy and Casey managed the pool. There's a lot of clutter there now. Just boring lido stuff like pool machinery etc. It doesn't look exotic in a way that it use to. I miss that.

Some missing features:
































Plus probably not in the spirit of this thread but I do miss Concorde thundering over my flat every afternoon.


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## DietCokeGirl (Aug 30, 2014)

Oh and the eurostar going past!


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## editor (Aug 30, 2014)

I miss the lido being squatted.


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## davesgcr (Aug 30, 2014)

LCC Tramways 

(actually only read the book ..)  - but what a loss ..


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## leanderman (Aug 30, 2014)

Tricky Skills said:


> I was at the lido today. I realised how sterile and bland it is looking. I miss all the artwork and plants that were placed around the poolside while Paddy and Casey managed the pool. There's a lot of clutter there now. Just boring lido stuff like pool machinery etc. It doesn't look exotic in a way that it use to. I miss that.
> 
> Some missing features:
> 
> ...



Nice pix. But looks better now.


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## Rushy (Sep 2, 2014)

I miss being able to put anything I didn't need anymore outside the front door and half an hour later - poof - it was magically gone!


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## Ms T (Sep 2, 2014)

Rushy said:


> I miss being able to put anything I didn't need anymore outside the front door and half an hour later - poof - it was magically gone!


I can still do that.


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## leanderman (Sep 2, 2014)

Ms T said:


> I can still do that.



Same here. But some residents don't understand the difference between freecycling reasonably useful stuff and straightforward flytipping.


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## Winot (Sep 2, 2014)

Rushy said:


> I miss being able to put anything I didn't need anymore outside the front door and half an hour later - poof - it was magically gone!



Your cast-offs clearly haven't kept up with gentrification.


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## nagapie (Sep 2, 2014)

I tried to freecycle some stuff on the Lambeth forum last week and didn't get one reponse! That's never happened to me before, even for things I thought no one would want.


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## Rushy (Sep 2, 2014)

Winot said:


> Your cast-offs clearly haven't kept up with gentrification.


My favourite was a rack of old shirts which the previous owner had left. I went upstairs to get something else and by the time I came back everything had gone - rack and all.

He also left me his bed to "help me out as I was just starting out". When I tried moving it the mattress literally tore into two parts before disintegrating into a cloud of dust. Minging. It left the room in a hoover bag.


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## oryx (Sep 3, 2014)

Tricky Skills said:


>



I thought that said DEER END and was about to ask if anyone had photos of antlers poking above the waves.

People round my way (Honor Oak/Crofton Park) are well into leaving stuff on walls to take away. I nearly had a big terracotta plant saucer the other day but realised we already had several unused ones.

Re the OP - I sort of miss the usual suspects - Brady's & The Hamilton - but not sure if I would still use them. It's more about missing the times spent there and feeling it's a shame people can't still enjoy the genuine, crazy fun, rough-around-the-edges, anything goes atmosphere they provided.


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## JTG (Sep 3, 2014)

I miss:
Arriving after football, already pissed/munted, taking a deep breath and heading out into the chaos
Dodging the preachers and the pushers on KFC corner
wiskey's flat in Brixton Hill Court and its ever changing cast of characters
PRoD at the Windmill/Canterbury, knowing every fucker there
Unsound at Bar Lorca/Jamm, knowing every fucker there
Popping into the Albert and being guaranteed to know someone
Shelley and etnea's sofa post PRoD
Certain other flats from Friday to Monday
Drew
I miss my late 20s


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## editor (Sep 3, 2014)

I'm going to have something to add shortly which makes me very sad indeed.


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## boohoo (Sep 3, 2014)

JTG said:


> Drew


Yes - I was going to say this - I miss sitting on the bus, looking out for anyone I know and spotting Drew.


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## editor (Sep 3, 2014)

With the deepest of sighs...
Goodbye Reggae Night at the Stockwell Queen’s Head


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## simonSW2 (Sep 3, 2014)

Record shops.


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## Tricky Skills (Sep 3, 2014)

Free firework displays...


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## Nanker Phelge (Sep 4, 2014)

editor said:


> Substation was fantastic. Great club.



Substation was bonkers


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## buscador (Sep 5, 2014)

Rushy said:


> I miss being able to put anything I didn't need anymore outside the front door and half an hour later - poof - it was magically gone!





Ms T said:


> I can still do that.



The pair of you, please stop! I've got a flat full of "useful items" friendofdorothy has found on her travels.


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## dbs1fan (Sep 5, 2014)

Sata-lite store (sic)
The Grain Barn
Jacaranda Garden
Brady's (of course!)
Pangaea


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## friendofdorothy (Sep 5, 2014)

buscador said:


> The pair of you, please stop! I've got a flat full of "useful items" friendofdorothy has found on her travels.


hey they are all useful and/or decorative -to what can you possibly object? Reduce  reuse recycle!


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## SpamMisery (Sep 7, 2014)

That sports shop would be a welcomed return


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## leanderman (Sep 7, 2014)

SpamMisery said:


> That sports shop would be a welcomed return



A joggers' shop might do some business. But, with proper sports in apparent decline, it might be a tough proposition.


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## editor (Sep 7, 2014)

leanderman said:


> A joggers' shop might do some business. But, with proper sports in apparent decline, it might be a tough proposition.


I saw a swarm of expensively kitted out joggers strutting down Coldharbour Lane a while back. They looked a bit silly, to be honest.


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## SpamMisery (Sep 7, 2014)

Combined with bike stuff would be useful


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## leanderman (Sep 7, 2014)

editor said:


> I saw a swarm of expensively kitted out joggers strutting down Coldharbour Lane a while back. They looked a bit silly, to be honest.



For some, much of the appeal is buying clothes and gadgets. Plus the idea that, suddenly, you're an athlete, even if you'd be quicker walking - and never break a sweat.


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## komodo (Sep 8, 2014)

The sound of dodgy African drumming from Brockwell Park, the pack of semi-wild free range dogs, the stables up Shakespeare Road, the parties upstairs at the Effra Hall.


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## ViolentPanda (Sep 9, 2014)

komodo said:


> The sound of dodgy African drumming from Brockwell Park, the pack of semi-wild free range dogs, the stables up Shakespeare Road, the parties upstairs at the Effra Hall.



We still occasionally hear some dodgy djembe/bongo action from Brockwell Park. Nowhere near as often as we used to, mind.


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## SarfLondoner (Sep 10, 2014)

Brixton snooker hall on acre lane.


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## editor (Mar 16, 2020)

Thought I'd update this thread with:

1. The 414 Club
2. The Grosvenor
3. The (old) Queen's Head
4. Kaff
5. Gigs at the Albert


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## Rocky Sullivan (Mar 16, 2020)

1. A & C Deli, Atlantic Road
2. Brixtonian
3. Brixton Grill
4. Kaff
5. Telegraph pub


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## GarveyLives (Mar 31, 2020)

People born and / or brought up in Brixton.


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## editor (Jul 15, 2020)

I really miss the old Phoenix Cafe.


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## Pickman's model (Jul 15, 2020)

bradys
the baked potato place
the 121 centre
the auld albert
RaverDrew


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## co-op (Jul 15, 2020)

editor said:


> I really miss the old Phoenix Cafe.



Yes! Used to eat there all the time, was just trying to remember its name.


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## editor (Jul 15, 2020)

co-op said:


> Yes! Used to eat there all the time, was just trying to remember its name.


The MkII version of the cafe was a bitter disappointment.


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## happyshopper (Jul 16, 2020)

GarveyLives said:


> People born and / or brought up in Brixton.


There are lots of people still being born and brought up in Brixton.


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## GarveyLives (Aug 12, 2020)

Solar Records.


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## peterkro (Aug 12, 2020)

The Frontline and all it encompassed.


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## TopCat (Aug 12, 2020)

Drew died in 2014. Nice he is still remembered.


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## planetgeli (Aug 12, 2020)

GarveyLives said:


> People born and / or brought up in Brixton.



Can't stand this parochialism. If your intention is to have a legitimate go at gentrification then go for it, talk about economic injustice and class, but don't couch it in this "Brixton for the Brixtonians" crap. Especially about a place that has always had fluid demographics and been welcoming to transient populations, be they working class, Jewish, BAME or whatever. In another context I'm from a London overspill town where many of those 'overspilling' were Irish or black and I've seen that "small white town for the small white townians" up front and dangerous and it stinks.

Completely different angle to the thread's intentions here but I lived in and around Brixton for 5 years (transient, see) in the 1990s and I miss;

Its welcoming attitude, never felt like an outsider coming in
Scoring from the flat over Red Records
Living in the flat above Red Records
Cricket in Brockwell Park nets
A cafe at the very bottom of Tulse Hill near the Brixton Water Lane crossroads run by a timid but lovely 'most unlikely man to run a cafe in Brixton' and his Chinese wife. He kept his prices cheap, probably too cheap, because he believed in fairness, not naked capitalism. Yeah, the olden days. Probably got robbed by the council, if not by somebody else.


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## Gramsci (Aug 14, 2020)

planetgeli said:


> Can't stand this parochialism. If your intention is to have a legitimate go at gentrification then go for it, talk about economic injustice and class, but don't couch it in this "Brixton for the Brixtonians" crap. Especially about a place that has always had fluid demographics and been welcoming to transient populations, be they working class, Jewish, BAME or whatever. In another context I'm from a London overspill town where many of those 'overspilling' were Irish or black and I've seen that "small white town for the small white townians" up front and dangerous and it stinks.
> 
> Completely different angle to the thread's intentions here but I lived in and around Brixton for 5 years (transient, see) in the 1990s and I miss;
> 
> ...



It is that people born here ( mainly second generation Afro Carribbean) have been pushed south towards Croydon / Thornton Heath as Brixton is no longer affordable. I have Afro Carribbean friends who were born in Brixton by parents who came here as migrants who no longer live in the area.

As one said to me what is the point of having Brixton Cultiral Archives in Brixton when Black people are gradually being pushed out.

Only reason Afro Carribbeans are still around is due to social housing estates are still here . For now.

The perception is that a new more affluent white group is gradually pushing out a largely BAME working class group. This is a class issue but for people who were born here its not always seen that way.


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## Ol Nick (Aug 17, 2020)

Gramsci said:


> It is that people born here ( mainly second generation Afro Caribbean) have been pushed south towards Croydon / Thornton Heath



You have to be very very careful with this line of argument. The facts are of course true, but what implications do you draw? That the people who live somewhere should be protected? That outsiders should be excluded? I mean Thornton Heath is nice and green and suburban.


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## SheilaNaGig (Aug 17, 2020)

buscador said:


> Robills International.
> Robills International.
> Robills International.
> Robills International.
> ...




I was thinking about Robbill’s just yesterday and lamenting for it.


The Pope’s Road emporium is another one I miss, although it wasn’t as good as Robbils.


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## organicpanda (Aug 17, 2020)

SheilaNaGig said:


> I was thinking about Robbill’s just yesterday and lamenting for it.
> 
> 
> The Pope’s Road emporium is another one I miss, although it wasn’t as good as Robbils.


Robills was the greatest emporium known to humankind


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## Gramsci (Aug 17, 2020)

Ol Nick said:


> You have to be very very careful with this line of argument. The facts are of course true, but what implications do you draw? That the people who live somewhere should be protected? That outsiders should be excluded? I mean Thornton Heath is nice and green and suburban.




Why do I have to be very careful with this line of argument? As you put it. For what reason?


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## editor (Aug 17, 2020)

SheilaNaGig said:


> I was thinking about Robbill’s just yesterday and lamenting for it.
> 
> 
> The Pope’s Road emporium is another one I miss, although it wasn’t as good as Robbils.


I'm not sure if it's the same people but the new shop close to Barnados offers a similarly wide range of stuff.


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## Gramsci (Aug 17, 2020)

Ol Nick said:


> You have to be very very careful with this line of argument. The facts are of course true, but what implications do you draw? That the people who live somewhere should be protected? That outsiders should be excluded? I mean Thornton Heath is nice and green and suburban.



I re read my post and made it clear it was a class issue.

To clarify gentrification is an aspect of living in a capitalist system which given free reign ( as it largely has since Thatcher) means that people who are less well off lose the choice of where they can live.

Im sure Mayfair is nice place to live. I can't think of living there as its not economic for me to do so. Why should that be ok?

Its not about protecting people.

One of the reallly annoying aspects of the general acceptance of neo liberalism as an idea is that pushing back against it is portrayed as a form of "protectionism".

Which is out of the Tory hymn book.

In actual fact when I first came to Brixton no one was "protecting" anyone lving there to stay there. Fact is if you said you lived in Brixton people would say but is it not terrible place to live? No one from "outside" was being excluded.

Nothing then to stop the well off coming to Brixton. They didn't because it had bad reputation.

Choice is what Im on about. Real choice of where to live is a class issue in sense of structural inequalities built into the system.


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## GarveyLives (Oct 11, 2021)

The letterbox adjacent to the Iceland supermarket.


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## editor (Oct 30, 2021)

GarveyLives said:


> The letterbox adjacent to the Iceland supermarket.


I forgot about that. It was pretty knackered but I used it a fair bit.


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## GOP (Oct 30, 2021)

1. Mango Landin
2. Apollo Video - Brixton Road
3. Mass
4. The Rest is Noise
5. Fujiyama


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## DietCokeGirl (Oct 31, 2021)

Speedy Noodle
SW9 Bar
Mass
Practical female clothing brand concessions in Morelys
Splash
Bonus: The 414 as long as it's not bloody psytrance again.


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## TopCat (Oct 31, 2021)

Popcorn.


----------



## Chilli.s (Oct 31, 2021)

Optimist Creed


----------



## Fluffy clouds (Oct 31, 2021)

Spud you like
Red Records
George the 4th
414
The crypt


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## madolesance (Oct 31, 2021)

Kings
The Brixtonion
Jacaranda Garden
Franco’s
Brixton Cycles on Coldharbour Lane


----------



## twistedAM (Nov 2, 2021)

7-Eleven
Brady's 
The Hamilton
Mingles
The squat where Mango Landing used to be.


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## GarveyLives (Mar 8, 2022)

Radio Rentals' store front on a Saturday afternoon.


----------

