# General Brixton history - photos, stories etc



## editor (Mar 17, 2014)

I thought it might be an idea to start a general thread for Brixton history, and to get it started, here's a photo of Atlantic Road in Edwardian times. 







I researched some of the shops in the picture - more here. Seeing this photo reminds me of how much Electric Avenue has fallen from grace.


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## leanderman (Mar 19, 2014)

The same decline is seen in residential streets in Brixton.

People  start doing their own thing, stop thinking collectively and chaos ensues!


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)




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## editor (Mar 19, 2014)

A Brief History of HMP Brixton, London’s Oldest Prison

First ever treadmill!








> Some of those forced onto the mill gained a fame of their own. Among them was John Dando – the Oyster Eater.
> 
> He feasted on what he couldn’t afford, touring London’s eateries, consuming huge quantities of food then refusing to pay.
> 
> He ate anything, though shellfish was his weakness. In Brixton he had to be separated from the other prisoners whom he robbed of bread and beef.


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)

The old windmill.


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)

This is opposite the white horse pub and is now the locksmiths.


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)

And here's the white horse pub.


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## leanderman (Mar 19, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> And here's the white horse pub.View attachment 50499



Can you tell from the picture whether the White Horse offered rooms?

Because Vera Brittain lodged at a White Horse while nursing wounded WW1 soldiers at King's.


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)

leanderman said:


> Can you tell from the picture whether the White Horse offered rooms?
> 
> Because Vera Brittain lodged at a White Horse while nursing wounded WW1 soldiers at King's.


Im sure a lot of pubs/inns did offer rooms then, Seeing as the pub was on the London to Brighton road im sure it would have. When i was a kid there were watering troffs(sorry bad spelling) outside many pubs so the horse could have a drink too!


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)

leanderman said:


> Can you tell from the picture whether the White Horse offered rooms?
> 
> Because Vera Brittain lodged at a White Horse while nursing wounded WW1 soldiers at King's.



I just found this,,,http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/brixtonhill.html


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## leanderman (Mar 19, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> I just found this,,,http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/brixtonhill.html



Superb. Must be there then. Will raise a glass to her next time!


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)

leanderman said:


> Superb. Must be there then. Will raise a glass to her next time!



I would love to go back in time(for a while) and live in those environs.


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 19, 2014)

does anyone have / have easy access to a kelly's directory (or similar) that includes stockwell road?

somewhere 1920s to about mid 50's

i have something i'm trying to pin down.

(i expect that lambeth's local studies unit will have one, just haven't got round to going there yet)


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 19, 2014)

This is the memorial at Stockwell in 1921.


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## editor (Mar 20, 2014)

Brixton Motor Works leaflet from the 1920s. 
It's on eBay for £25 if anyone wants it.


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## editor (Mar 20, 2014)

Royal visit to Brixton April 29th, 1908 for the opening ceremony of the town hall. Look at the crowd!

 



> *Lambeth Town Hall*
> In 1904, shortly after the constitution of Lameth Borough Council, a site for a Town Hall on the corner of Acre Lane and Brixton Hill was purchased for £25,000. (ref. 140) A competition was held for a design for the new building and there were 143 entries, (ref. 141) that of Septimus Warwick and Herbert Austen Hall being chosen (Plate 36b). The builders, whose tender was for £38,274, were Messrs. John Greenwood, Ltd. (ref. 142) The foundation stone was laid on July 21, 1906, by the Mayor, Alderman F. A. Powell. In a cavity under the stone the Mayor placed a sealed bottle containing a copy of _The Times,_ a map of the borough, a list of the members of the Council and its committees, and some coins. (ref. 143) The hall was opened by the Prince of Wales on April 29, 1908. (ref. 144) The clock in the tower was the gift of Edwin Jones, J.P. (ref. 145) In 1937–8 the original architects were employed to build an assembly hall fronting Acre Lane and make other extensions including an additional storey to the existing building. (ref. 146)
> 
> http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49767


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## moon (Mar 20, 2014)

Footage of Brixton market in the 1960s
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/caribbean-market


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## xsunnysuex (Mar 20, 2014)

moon said:


> Footage of Brixton market in the 1960s
> http://www.britishpathe.com/video/caribbean-market


Amazing.  Funny to think that little girl in the pram at the end is probably about the same age as me.


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## T & P (Mar 20, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> View attachment 50498This is opposite the white horse pub and is now the locksmiths.


Just as well they no longer exist, or they'd have been forced to change their window display after complaints from concerned parents.


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## SarfLondoner (Mar 20, 2014)

I found some nice pics on here,,http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lambeth/lambeth-assets/galleries/brixton/brixton-estate


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 1, 2014)

Some old footage of Brixton in this,,,


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## editor (Apr 10, 2014)

A little feature on the old Fire Station in Ferndale Road.






http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/04/the-old-fire-station-ferndale-road-brixton-1906-2014/


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 10, 2014)

Just found this old photo of Marks and Spencer.
M&S Brixton Arch Penny Bazaar around 1903.

http://www.mylearning.org/mands-making-a-mark--michael-marks/images/1-4389/


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## editor (Apr 10, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Just found this old photo of Marks and Spencer.
> M&S Brixton Arch Penny Bazaar around 1903.
> View attachment 51954
> http://www.mylearning.org/mands-making-a-mark--michael-marks/images/1-4389/


Do you know what number that arch was? That needs a 'then and now' comparison!


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## editor (Apr 10, 2014)

Ah, I'd already researched that!
http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/marks-and-spencer-station-road.html


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 10, 2014)

Unable to find that ornate gate on that infernal quiz thread but i found a Brixton zebra.
http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/quiz-where-in-brixton-is-this.311955/page-10#post-13056544


http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/zebra-taxi-cab.html


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## editor (Apr 11, 2014)

I added that piece on the original M&S.










http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/04/marks-and-spencer-original-penny-bazaar-in-brixton/


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 11, 2014)

editor said:


> I added that piece on the original M&S.
> 
> http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/04/marks-and-spencer-original-penny-bazaar-in-brixton/



 at article

 at "London & S Western Railway" though...  Think you may have got your (overhead) wires crossed...


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## editor (Apr 11, 2014)

Puddy_Tat said:


> at article
> 
> at "London & S Western Railway" though...  Think you may have got your (overhead) wires crossed...


What should it be?


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## Sirena (Apr 11, 2014)

leanderman said:


> Can you tell from the picture whether the White Horse offered rooms?
> 
> Because Vera Brittain lodged at a White Horse while nursing wounded WW1 soldiers at King's.


It doesn't answer your question but I read this interesting passage recently in a book called 'Dwellings of the Philosophers':

"Hostelries [in the middle ages] often put up a golden lion fixed in heraldic pose, which for the traveller seeking out accommodation, meant that 'one could sleep there' because of the double meaning of the pun and the image" (the pun is Lion d'Or becomes 'lit on dort' (bed that one sleeps in).

it was just interesting that old pub names might have more significance than one realizes.


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 11, 2014)

editor said:


> What should it be?



As we've discovered on the thread about the Barrington Road bridge, that bit of railway is complicated.  We're talking about the northern edge of Brixton Station, aren't we?  i.e. the 'Catford Loop' platforms.  Which were closed to traffic in 1916 (as a 'temporary' measure) then demolished in 1923.

In which case London Chatham & Dover Railway.  More here.


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## oryx (Apr 11, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Unable to find that ornate gate on that infernal quiz thread but i found a Brixton zebra.
> http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/quiz-where-in-brixton-is-this.311955/page-10#post-13056544
> View attachment 51961
> 
> http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/zebra-taxi-cab.html



A real proper zebra!  On looking at this initially I thought it might be a donkey painted in stripes as I saw in Tijuana, Mexico. I have a pic somewhere I'd post if a) it wouldn't take me ages to find and b) he who rules the scanner is fast asleep.

Great thread (& links). I had no idea Brixton was M & S's first shop in London.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 11, 2014)

Lol, look at that lovely tram housed at Brixton Hill.

http://www.kingswaymodels.com/page9.htm


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 11, 2014)

I can't work out where this is; the photo labels says - 54 route tram, 36 route bus, Brixton, near Perlman Bros. building. Photo taken from upstairs of tram: note "snail" in foreground.

http://dewi.ca/trains/london/buses.html


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 11, 2014)

Streatham but they called it Brixton Hill and i like it so i'm posting it.
 

http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/incline/lb.htm


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## friendofdorothy (Apr 11, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I can't work out where this is; the photo labels says - 54 route tram, 36 route bus, Brixton, near Perlman Bros. building. Photo taken from upstairs of tram: note "snail" in foreground.
> View attachment 52043
> http://dewi.ca/trains/london/buses.html



Looks like the corner of Camberwell Road where Brixton road begins by the the Business centre. Its still on the 36 bus route.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 11, 2014)

friendofdorothy said:


> Looks like the corner of Camberwell Road where Brixton road begins by the the Business centre. Its still on the 36 bus route.



Brilliant call, by the Oval.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 12, 2014)

Queuing outside the Academy (Astoria) back in the day.


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 12, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I can't work out where this is; the photo labels says - 54 route tram, 36 route bus, Brixton, near Perlman Bros. building. Photo taken from upstairs of tram: note "snail" in foreground.
> View attachment 52043
> http://dewi.ca/trains/london/buses.html


I would say that is on the corner of Brixton road and Camberwell new road look toward Camberwell.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 12, 2014)

I thought this was a fake picture until i realsied it was an artists impression. 
 
http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/brixton-tram-station.html

They need to revive this idea but keep on digging until just past the police station thus easing the traffic congestion with an underpass and enabling central Brixton to be pedestrianised.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 12, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> I would say that is on the corner of Brixton road and Camberwell new road look toward Camberwell.



Yeah, i was stuck thinking Coldharbour Lane towards Camerwell but friendofdorothy beat you to it. She is quick on the draw that woman is!


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 12, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Yeah, i was stuck thinking Coldharbour Lane towards Camerwell but friendofdorothy beat you to it. She is quick on the draw that woman is!


 She did indeed and i did not see that post,the alert took me straight to your picture which is a good find btw. The building hasn't changed in all that time.


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## RoyReed (Apr 12, 2014)

friendofdorothy said:


> Looks like the corner of Camberwell Road where Brixton road begins by the the Business centre. Its still on the 36 bus route.


Yes, exactly there.


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## friendofdorothy (Apr 13, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Queuing outside the Academy (Astoria) back in the day.
> View attachment 52045



just love all the hats in that queue!


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 13, 2014)

This is the parade from that runs from Christchurch road to Morrish road on Brixton Hill,1935.


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 14, 2014)

Some more nostalgia,,,


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## Tricky Skills (Apr 15, 2014)

It's worth also reminding folk of the vast archive put together by Sam the Wheels.


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## leanderman (Apr 15, 2014)

Anyone know of any archive stuff about the Brockwell Park railway? A neighbour, the current 'station master', is looking for 1950s pictures etc


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## MAD-T-REX (Apr 15, 2014)

There are two places worth looking - the Minet Library near Myatts Fields and Southwark's local history library on Borough High Street. I am the saddo who wrote the history section of the Wiki article on Herne Hill railway station and both libraries were very useful. 

The Herne Hill collection in Minet Library is only a few boxes and wouldn't take more than an hour to get through; the Southwark library has hundreds of pictures from the area, although there are restrictions on making or using copies.


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## editor (Apr 15, 2014)

Damarr said:


> There are two places worth looking - the Minet Library near Myatts Fields and Southwark's local history library on Borough High Street. I am the saddo who wrote the history section of the Wiki article on Herne Hill railway station and both libraries were very useful.


If you ever want to be as sad as me and contribute _even more_ articles on local history, BrixtonBuzz eagerly awaits your input!


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## MAD-T-REX (Apr 15, 2014)

I am planning to be unemployed in August/September, so I will take you up on that and do something substantial, either on the railways or the urbanisation of the area since I read a lot about both while researching HH. Local history rules.


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## teuchter (Apr 15, 2014)

Damarr said:


> something substantial, either on the railways or the urbanisation of the area since I read a lot about both while researching HH. Local history rules.



I'd like to know more about the goods yards that used to be between HH and Loughborough Junction.


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## editor (Apr 15, 2014)

Damarr said:


> I am planning to be unemployed in August/September, so I will take you up on that and do something substantial, either on the railways or the urbanisation of the area since I read a lot about both while researching HH. Local history rules.


That would be fantastic. The history stories on Brixton Buzz have proved to be very popular indeed and it's important to document things that may otherwise be lost.


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## MAD-T-REX (Apr 15, 2014)

teuchter said:


> I'd like to know more about the goods yards that used to be between HH and Loughborough Junction.


It'll be some months before I have to chance to do any research, but I've just found that volumes of the Railway News have now been uploaded to Google Books in their entirety and for free: Link 

This will probably be a goldmine for information on railways in the area. I see in Volume 6, p.329, that an annual season ticket from Herne Hill to Ludgate Hill was £7 in 1866 - seems like a bargain.


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## teuchter (Apr 15, 2014)

Damarr said:


> It'll be some months before I have to chance to do any research, but I've just found that volumes of the Railway News have now been uploaded to Google Books in their entirety and for free: Link
> 
> This will probably be a goldmine for information on railways in the area. I see in Volume 6, p.329, that an annual season ticket from Herne Hill to Ludgate Hill was £7 in 1866 - seems like a bargain.


Have you seen this?

http://www.railwaywondersoftheworld.com/contents.html

I only stumbled across it recently and have barely scratched the surface but there is some really great stuff in there. Lost a few hours the other night reading about Willesden and Clapham Junctions, early rail testing machines, and various other matters.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 26, 2014)

I'd forgotten all about Littlewoods. A sloping floor and a restaurant at the back.

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/brixton-footbridge-mystery.html


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 26, 2014)

http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=maps&id=2925


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 26, 2014)

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/499688521126836017/


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 26, 2014)

*The Honky Tonk Woman – Winifred Atwell and the Railton Road in Brixton.*
http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/2...ifred-atwell-and-the-railton-road-in-brixton/

 
The building at 82A Railton Road once housed maybe the first black women’s hairdressers in London. It had opened in 1956 and was called The Winifred Atwell Salon.


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## CH1 (Apr 26, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> View attachment 52818
> http://www.pinterest.com/pin/499688521126836017/


Any idea of the occasion? David Bowie made a large donation to the Brixton Neighbourhood Community Association (BNCA) to assist with the renovation of the building opposite the back of Morleys on Bernays Grove.
Seems Bowie is approaching that building in this photo.
I would think this project went on around 1994, 1996 at the latest.
Does David look the right age for 1994-6?


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 26, 2014)

CH1 said:


> *Any idea of the occasion?* David Bowie made a large donation to the Brixton Neighbourhood Community Association (BNCA) to assist with the renovation of the building opposite the back of Morleys on Bernays Grove.
> Seems Bowie is approaching that building in this photo.
> I would think this project went on around 1994, 1996 at the latest.
> Does David look the right age for 1994-6?



I have no idea and have just noticed the woman looking out the window in the top right hand corner. I just assumed it was taken in the 1970's


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## CH1 (Apr 26, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I have no idea and have just noticed the woman looking out the window in the top right hand corner. I just assumed it was taken in the 1970's


I have some evidence for the connection - though not this specific donation or visit: http://exploringdavidbowie.com/2013...-her-royal-highness-princess-michael-of-kent/


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## Dexter Deadwood (Apr 26, 2014)

CH1 said:


> I have some evidence for the connection - though not this specific donation or visit: http://exploringdavidbowie.com/2013...-her-royal-highness-princess-michael-of-kent/



Looking at that photo again it does look early 80's.


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## CH1 (Apr 26, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Looking at that photo again it does look early 80's.


Maybe he was visiting before rather than after the upgrade.


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## cuppa tee (Apr 26, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> Looking at that photo again it does look early 80's.



here you go Dex, october 1989 to be exact.....

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail...s-in-brixton-south-london-news-photo/85971299


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## cuppa tee (Apr 26, 2014)

here is another snap from the same visit Dexter Deadwood

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail...-out-of-a-window-to-pass-news-photo/103627686

the caption seems to confirm some of  CH1 's earlier post


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## CH1 (Apr 26, 2014)

cuppa tee said:


> here is another snap from the same visit Dexter Deadwood
> 
> http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail...-out-of-a-window-to-pass-news-photo/103627686
> 
> the caption seems to confirm some of  CH1 's earlier post


Clearly got my dates out of synch.

1989 it is then. I would have thought that both those photos were probably on the same occasion though? Especially as the one supposedly on 1st October has people in quite summery dress (one stripped to the waist one and in vest). 

I wager it was 6th July 1989.


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## cuppa tee (Apr 27, 2014)

CH1 said:


> Clearly got my dates out of synch.
> 
> 1989 it is then. I would have thought that both those photos were probably on the same occasion though? Especially as the one supposedly on 1st October has people in quite summery dress (one stripped to the waist one and in vest).
> 
> I wager it was 6th July 1989.



I didn't check the date on the second pic but assumed it was the same occasion because Mr Bowie appears to be wearing the same turtleneck jumper in both.


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## Rushy (Apr 27, 2014)

CH1 said:


> Any idea of the occasion? David Bowie made a large donation to the Brixton Neighbourhood Community Association (BNCA) to assist with the renovation of the building opposite the back of Morleys on Bernays Grove.
> Seems Bowie is approaching that building in this photo.
> I would think this project went on around 1994, 1996 at the latest.
> Does David look the right age for 1994-6?


I remember looking around Carlton Hall when it was to let in fairly poor condition - probably about 2000/01 and it was let to a Buddhist group who I thought had renovated the it themselves. David Bowie has associations with / practices Bhuddism so did he support them?


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## CH1 (Apr 27, 2014)

Rushy said:


> I remember looking around Carlton Hall when it was to let in fairly poor condition - probably about 2000/01 and it was let to a Buddhist group who I thought had renovated the it themselves. David Bowie has associations with / practices Bhuddism so did he support them?


I went there in the heyday of BNCA to a Brixton Challenge event - 1995 or so. At that time the place struck me as well plush.

Around 1998 I went to a memorial event there for Justin Fashnu and it was still in good nick, though I think BNCA had gone bust by then & the building was used by a project called Trafalgar 2000 - youth work training/mentoring.

How it came to be in a bad state by 2000-1 I can't say. But I notice yesterday whilst Googling away that SGI-UK, a Buddhist group, claim it is their South London HQ. Are they still there? I have no idea if David Bowie is a Buddhist - I think he just made a one off donation back in the 1980s to BNCA as a sort of pay-back to the community.

I doubt anyone would pay out to renovate a building twice over!


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## dbs1fan (Apr 27, 2014)

Yes,http://www.laundrettefilms.wordpress.com/
 SGI-UK are still there and going strong.
Here's a film about Brixton Faeries and reference to how radical things used to be on Railton Road


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## boohoo (Apr 27, 2014)

Bowie's fundraising efforts for Brixton!


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## Rushy (Apr 27, 2014)

CH1 said:


> I went there in the heyday of BNCA to a Brixton Challenge event - 1995 or so. At that time the place struck me as well plush.
> 
> Around 1998 I went to a memorial event there for Justin Fashnu and it was still in good nick, though I think BNCA had gone bust by then & the building was used by a project called Trafalgar 2000 - youth work training/mentoring.
> 
> ...


By poor, I mean for a place which had apparently been recently refurbished, rather than dreadful.  I particularly remember damp in the big hall with the round window caused by a leaky roof. And a lot of peeling paint on external woodwork. Beyond that, I think it was probably just a bit tired and shabby. A bit long ago to recall specifically. Only went in twice.


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 28, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> Yes, exactly there.
> 
> View attachment 52064


This i think was next door to this building,,


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 28, 2014)

The Olde white horse on Brixton road.


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## MrSki (Apr 28, 2014)

Brixton piggyback race.


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## MrSki (Apr 28, 2014)

The Battle of Brixton 1957


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## MrSki (Apr 28, 2014)

The Market 1961


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## SarfLondoner (Apr 28, 2014)

MrSki said:


> The Battle of Brixton 1957



Wow,Ferndale road without the parked cars.


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## SarfLondoner (May 6, 2014)

The old coach and horses,Now market house.


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## Onket (May 6, 2014)

Not changed much at all, really.


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## SarfLondoner (May 6, 2014)

Onket said:


> Not changed much at all, really.


True but it's a lot smarter now, I do like like the Trueman's brewery lamp hanging outside.


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## SarfLondoner (May 6, 2014)

Brixton market 1952


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## SarfLondoner (May 6, 2014)

Electric avenue early 70's, I think this may be an album cover.


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## buscador (May 7, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> The Olde white horse on Brixton road.View attachment 52912



It looks tiny. I always think of it as a massive place.


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## SarfLondoner (May 7, 2014)

buscador said:


> It looks tiny. I always think of it as a massive place.


At a glance it also looks like the Hootananny.


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## Onket (May 7, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> The Olde white horse on Brixton road.View attachment 52912


I know that place has been there a bloody long time, because boohoo had her 18th birthday there!


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## SarfLondoner (May 7, 2014)

Onket said:


> I know that place has been there a bloody long time, because boohoo had her 18th birthday there!


You charmer


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## boohoo (May 7, 2014)

Onket said:


> I know that place has been there a bloody long time, because boohoo had her 18th birthday there!



ha ha  - 21st actually...


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## SarfLondoner (May 7, 2014)

boohoo said:


> ha ha  - 21st actually...


Dont let him off that easy i wouldn't


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## boohoo (May 7, 2014)

MrSki said:


> Brixton piggyback race.




Anyone figure out where the heck this is?


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## SarfLondoner (May 7, 2014)

boohoo said:


> Anyone figure out where the heck this is?


Dont start


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## boohoo (May 7, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Dont start


I should put it on the other thread. The two house at the end of the road are very distinctive and yet I can't find them.....yet.... maybe it isn't even Brixton!!!!


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## Rushy (May 7, 2014)

boohoo said:


> Anyone figure out where the heck this is?



St Matthews Road
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4Cg6FK6d8zv97owZUZqUWQ!2e0

Junction with Brixton Water Lane.
One of the houses has gone.


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## Rushy (May 7, 2014)

And
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s6L4xLYSRBnaZg8JzQWNlFw!2e0


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## SarfLondoner (May 7, 2014)

boohoo said:


> I should put it on the other thread. The two house at the end of the road are very distinctive and yet I can't find them.....yet.... maybe it isn't even Brixton!!!!


Where are you thinking it might be? Lambert and Sudbourne road sprang to mind.


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## Rushy (May 7, 2014)

It's the only images I have seen of the Road before the demolitions.


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## SarfLondoner (May 7, 2014)

Rushy said:


> And
> https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s6L4xLYSRBnaZg8JzQWNlFw!2e0


Quite possible,good shout.


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## Rushy (May 7, 2014)

I'm fairly certain. I recognised it straight away.


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## boohoo (May 7, 2014)

Rushy Good work. It looks correct. The  remaining building on St Matthew's road looks right. The lamp posts are quite distinctive too.


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## SarfLondoner (May 7, 2014)

This is a nice film,,,,


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## SarfLondoner (May 12, 2014)

I was wondering where this was originally situated.


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## boohoo (May 12, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> View attachment 53747 I was wondering where this was originally situated.



Where the Sainsburys is. There is a post about this somewhere on here.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 26, 2014)

Some interesting stuff here,,http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49774


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 26, 2014)

Brixton theatres ,,,,http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Brixton.htm


----------



## editor (May 26, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> View attachment 53747 I was wondering where this was originally situated.



More here: http://www.urban75.org/blog/brixton-roller-skating-rink-memories-from-the-late-1950s/


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 26, 2014)

Brixton east station,,,http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/e/east_brixton/index7.shtml.

http://www.kentrail.org.uk/east_brixton.htm


----------



## boohoo (May 26, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Some interesting stuff here,,http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49774



The British-history site has lots of great information abut the details of London - the pages on Stockwell are interesting.


----------



## editor (May 26, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Brixton east station,,,http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/e/east_brixton/index7.shtml.
> 
> http://www.kentrail.org.uk/east_brixton.htm



And here: http://www.urban75.org/railway/east-brixton.html


----------



## editor (May 26, 2014)

boohoo said:


> The British-history site has lots of great information abut the details of London - the pages on Stockwell are interesting.


Yes, it's a great resource.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 26, 2014)

I wonder where this factory is /was,Its the Teofani tobacco factory in Brixton dated 1914.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 26, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> View attachment 54570
> 
> I wonder where this factory is /was,Its the Teofani tobacco factory in Brixton dated 1914.



Chryssell Road.
http://www.englishheritagearchives....ick&cr=bedford lemere&io=True&l=all&page=1457


----------



## buscador (May 26, 2014)

A group of women sorting tobacco leaves in the Teofani tobacco factory in Brixton. The Teofani factory was positioned just behind Chryssell Road, which at the time ran north south between Cranmer Road and Vassall Road in Brixton. 

[Found this on the English Heritage site.]


----------



## CH1 (May 26, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Brixton east station,,,http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/e/east_brixton/index7.shtml.
> 
> http://www.kentrail.org.uk/east_brixton.htm


Useful links for future reference - thanks for posting!


----------



## CH1 (May 26, 2014)

editor said:


> And here: http://www.urban75.org/railway/east-brixton.html


Is there any info on when/why they changed from overhead electrification and standardised on third rail?
Duh! 1928 - it's in the Kent Rail piece SarfLondoner posted.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 26, 2014)

cuppa tee said:


> here is another snap from the same visit Dexter Deadwood
> 
> http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail...-out-of-a-window-to-pass-news-photo/103627686
> 
> the caption seems to confirm some of  CH1 's earlier post


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 26, 2014)

A bit of a niche industry -

Brixton was home to the London County Council Tramways, and later London Transport ticket printing and ticket machine maintenance works.








> Effra Road printing works. A female worker works on a wire stapling machine that bundles the tickets into batches of fifty ready for dispatch.
> 
> Photographed by Richard Sharpe, 1949



This building was on the site that's now Halfords etc.








> John Stephens (left) and George Sawyer (right) carrying out maintenance work on some Gibson ticket machines at Stockwell Works.
> 
> Photographed by Colin Tait, Feb 1955



In LCC days, and until the mid 50s, when the use of 'bell punch' tickets ended, the Effra Road site concentrated on printing, the 'Stockwell' site was on Stockwell Road, Brixton, and concentrated on ticket machine repair, although in LCC days, ticket punches were made there as well.  The prototype 'Gibson' ticket machine was probably made there to the design of and under supervision of Mr George Gibson who was the works superintendent.  (the production model was made in Tring, Herts)

I am trying to nail down the exact site of this, it is on record as being part of a former horse tram depot, but there were 2 such sites on Stockwell Road.

At some point in the 1950s, both functions were concentrated on the Effra Road site which was reconstructed after war damage.  The works closed in the late 1980s as privatisation / outsourcing became policy.


----------



## buscador (May 26, 2014)

Thanks for that, Puddy_Tat . We were walking past that site just yesterday and wondered what had been there.


----------



## editor (May 27, 2014)

Love this - a full size replica of a steam train in Bon Marche!


----------



## Onket (May 28, 2014)

I used to live near the site of that Teofani factory. Never really considered it to be 'Brixton' though.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

Bon Marche


----------



## boohoo (May 28, 2014)

That's a lovely photo. The rotunda next to Bon Marche is lovely.

Funny that a clock still remains at that site.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

Woolworths Original location 415-417 Brixton road.


----------



## editor (May 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Woolworths Original location 415-417 Brixton road.
> 
> View attachment 54667



Now: 







There's more info here: http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/brixtonroad1.html


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

The London Gloucestershire and North Hants Dairy on the corner of Canterbury Road (now Canterbury Crescent) and Pope's Road.
The building was demolished and International House was built on the site.
 

.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

editor said:


> Now:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 editor Is there any Pictures of Brixton you dont have? I get all excited when i find these gems then you come along and trump me.You have got it nailed.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

An aerial view looking south down Effra Road, taken from above premises on the corner of Acre Lane and Brixton Road. St Mathews Church is seen on the top right, and the petrol station and garages on the left have since been demolished.Circa 1940


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

This is Times furniture shop on Brixton road.In the 80's i remember it being on the corner of Acre lane/Brixton road.


----------



## teuchter (May 28, 2014)

^^ do you know what date that is (the Effra Road one)?

(the railings along the pavements look surprisingly modern compared to the various vehicles)


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

teuchter said:


> ^^ do you know what date that is (the Effra Road one)?
> 
> (the railings along the pavements look surprisingly modern compared to the various vehicles)


Circa 1921.

eta do you mean the effra road picture or the furniture shop?


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> This is Times furniture shop on Brixton road.In the 80's i remember it being on the corner of Acre lane/Brixton road.
> View attachment 54670


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

teuchter said:


> ^^ do you know what date that is (the Effra Road one)?
> 
> (the railings along the pavements look surprisingly modern compared to the various vehicles)


1940


----------



## Onket (May 28, 2014)

editor said:


> Now:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's not now, that building burnt down. 



SarfLondoner said:


> editor Is there any Pictures of Brixton you dont have? I get all excited when i find these gems then you come along and trump me.You have got it nailed.



He's not got a picture of the building that's there now!


----------



## boohoo (May 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> This is Times furniture shop on Brixton road.In the 80's i remember it being on the corner of Acre lane/Brixton road.
> View attachment 54670



That would be the Crown and Anchor pub in the distance there.


----------



## boohoo (May 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> An aerial view looking south down Effra Road, taken from above premises on the corner of Acre Lane and Brixton Road. St Mathews Church is seen on the top right, and the petrol station and garages on the left have since been demolished.Circa 1940
> 
> View attachment 54669



I've not seen this view. I'm sure the garage was a shop for a while  - someone will remember.


----------



## Rushy (May 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> An aerial view looking south down Effra Road, taken from above premises on the corner of Acre Lane and Brixton Road. St Mathews Church is seen on the top right, and the petrol station and garages on the left have since been demolished.Circa 1940
> 
> View attachment 54669


I love the look of the steep gabled house in top left - now Vida Walsh.

Presume this is before the road widening which left the Budd memorial outside the church railings - although the large trees are already very close to the boundary walls.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 28, 2014)

boohoo said:


> That would be the Crown and Anchor pub in the distance there.


Yes it is,The victory nursery is now situated where times furniture was.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 28, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> An aerial view looking south down Effra Road, taken from above premises on the corner of Acre Lane and Brixton Road. St Mathews Church is seen on the top right, and the petrol station and garages on the left have since been demolished.Circa 1940
> 
> View attachment 54669



I would put this one post-war but not by very long.

The kerbs still have the black / white markings that were added to assist visibility in the blackout, but neither the bus or tram has the additional white markings that were added for the blackout, and the car / lorry nearer the camera do not have wartime headlamp masking.


----------



## teuchter (May 28, 2014)

The tram tracks have a third rail (more like a slot) in the middle. Is that where the electrical supply was? (I assume the cable pull system wasn't in operation any more by then)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 28, 2014)

teuchter said:


> The tram tracks have a third rail (more like a slot) in the middle. Is that where the electrical supply was? (I assume the cable pull system wasn't in operation any more by then)



Yes, the cable system went before WW1.  The thing in the middle is a conduit slot - the London County Council's trams in inner London ran on this system, only the outer areas / later constructions ran on overhead wires.  Trams changed from one to the other at 'change pits' akin to this (this is the Lee Green one)






the ones serving Brixton routes were in Effra Road (for the Norwood routes) and on Streatham High Road (for the main route to Croydon)

ETA - and Coldharbour lane for the 34 route


----------



## CH1 (May 29, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Woolworths Original location 415-417 Brixton road.
> View attachment 54667


I remember Burtons Menswear on the corner until around 1988. The remnants of the houses in SarfLondoner's photo still existed behind the Burtons building then - but were sacrificed to bring us Argos it seems.


The Argos/Footlocker/Sainsburys/Smiths development was another "Brixton Challenge" initiative, like the demolition of the Empress Theatre/Bingo Hall in Brighton Terrace, the redevelopment of the Ritzy, and the redevelopment of the Odeon Camberwell (Dicky Dirts) as a Foyer Scheme (though why that was funded out of Brixton money heaven knows).

One undesirable side-effect of the redevelopment was to destroy the vibrant little arcade beside the underground station which gave much quicker access through to the BR station. And had a cafe (as opposed to a Starbucks).


----------



## CH1 (May 29, 2014)

Onket said:


> That's not now, that building burnt down.
> He's not got a picture of the building that's there now!


The building you say burnt down is still there - indeed it is actually the same building as when it was Burtons.

The building has been refitted several times - and burnt out, at least on the ground floor, but it still remains the same (unlike all the surrounding buildings, which got "redeveloped").  Editor SarfLondoner


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 29, 2014)

That was a great little cafe and was always busy,there was also a decent clothes shop in that arcade doing the latest fashions and casual wear.I could never understand why it was shut down.


----------



## editor (May 29, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> That was a great little cafe and was always busy,there was also a decent clothes shop in that arcade doing the latest fashions and casual wear.I could never understand why it was shut down.


I often used to get my newspapers and drinks from the shop in that arcade, and liked the cafe too.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 29, 2014)

editor said:


> I often used to get my newspapers and drinks from the shop in that arcade, and liked the cafe too.


Any idea what year the arcade actually closed?


----------



## Onket (May 29, 2014)

CH1 said:


> The building you say burnt down is still there - indeed it is actually the same building as when it was Burtons.
> 
> The building has been refitted several times - and burnt out, at least on the ground floor, but it still remains the same (unlike all the surrounding buildings, which got "redeveloped").  Editor SarfLondoner


Spoilsport.


----------



## CH1 (May 29, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Any idea what year the arcade actually closed?


I think it was 1995. There were "consultations" before the arcade was closed and the businesses were promised alternative and equally suitable premises to my recollection.

It doesn't seem to have happened though, does it?  I am more familiar with the case of the Index Bookshop which had to move from a shop where Argos is now on Atlantic Road.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 29, 2014)

There is some good stuff about Brixton here,,http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/cchobson.html#top which was posted by Puddy_Tat on another thread.


----------



## Winot (May 29, 2014)

CH1 said:


> I think it was 1995. There were "consultations" before the arcade was closed and the businesses were promised alternative and equally suitable premises to my recollection.
> 
> It doesn't seem to have happened though, does it?  I am more familiar with the case of the Index Bookshop which had to move from a shop where Argos is now on Atlantic Road.



I think it might have been later as that was the year I moved to Brixton and I remember using it as a cut through to get to the tube. But my gf moved the year before so perhaps I've got my timeline wrong.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 29, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> There is some good stuff about Brixton here,,http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/cchobson.html#top which was posted by Puddy_Tat on another thread.





the interwebs is like that - i found that site yesterday while I was trying to find a picture of the change pit in Streatham.  Of course I couldn't find it a couple of years back when I was trying to research the building in the photo on the site


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 29, 2014)

Another transport related building that I think I've mentioned on Urban before, but not sure I have posted a picture







Former London General / London Transport private hire coach garage in Waterworks Road, Brixton.

The premises were built for Cambrian Landray Ltd c. 1922, they were taken over in 1926 by the London General Omnibus Company.

The garage was subsequently used mainly for General / Green Line private hire coaches. In 1937, after the formation of London Transport, the London based private hire fleet was transferred to Old Kent Road garage and this site was sold.

1936 view (from here)


----------



## CH1 (May 29, 2014)

Winot said:


> I think it might have been later as that was the year I moved to Brixton and I remember using it as a cut through to get to the tube. But my gf moved the year before so perhaps I've got my timeline wrong.


You could be right, but I reckon the arcade was closed and Index forced to move by the end of 1996 at the very latest.


----------



## SarfLondoner (May 29, 2014)

Puddy_Tat said:


> the interwebs is like that - i found that site yesterday while I was trying to find a picture of the change pit in Streatham.  Of course I couldn't find it a couple of years back when I was trying to research the building in the photo on the site



My friend did his apprenticeship in the old depot opposite Morrish road,it was either Toyota or Jaguar cars this would have been 1982/3 ish.I used to go and see him there on a saturday and i remember seeing the old markings from where the tramline was.


----------



## Raymond Howard (May 31, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I can't work out where this is; the photo labels says - 54 route tram, 36 route bus, Brixton, near Perlman Bros. building. Photo taken from upstairs of tram: note "snail" in foreground.
> View attachment 52043
> http://dewi.ca/trains/london/buses.html


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 3, 2014)

This is Pride and Clarke Motorbike shop, 158 stockwell road the picture was taken on this day (3rd) june 1968.
Here is a link,http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Pride_and_Clarke


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 3, 2014)

*TRIGWELL & Co*

*This was situated next to Jebb avenue along from the former George the fourth pub.*

*




The V-CC book Veteran Cycles states: ‘Founded by J. R. Trigwell, maker of the Regent high wheeler of 1880, from Merlin Works, Brixton Rise, London, and also a rational of c1889. An unusual tandem tricycle was produced which took the form of a ‘Kangaroo’ front driver connected to a ‘Cripper’ rear. In 1886 the firm introduced an anti-vibration handlebar and ball-bearing head which were included in the ‘Regent Humber Roadster’ among others. This machine cost £23 5/- and had 44″ and 18″ wheels.’



*


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 3, 2014)

More stuff here,http://edithsstreets.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/thames-tributary-effra-brixton.html


----------



## CH1 (Jun 3, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> More stuff here,http://edithsstreets.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/thames-tributary-effra-brixton.html


This bit caught my eye:

*"7 Gresham Road - now Karibu Education Centre was the Abeng Centre. This originally opened in 1862 as the Angell Town Literary & Scientific Institute for Working Men"*

When I was checking Kellys directories at the Minet the other week 7 Gresham Road repeatedly came up as Brixton Telephone Exhange.  Any ideas or information on that? This is confirmed in the Brixton conservation area statement para 2.57.

Maybe there might be an old postcard or photo floating around somewhere?


----------



## editor (Jun 3, 2014)

CH1 said:


> This bit caught my eye:
> 
> *"7 Gresham Road - now Karibu Education Centre was the Abeng Centre. This originally opened in 1862 as the Angell Town Literary & Scientific Institute for Working Men"*
> 
> ...


Ah, I've always wondered about that building. There is a telephone exchange further along Gresham Road.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 3, 2014)

CH1 said:


> This bit caught my eye:
> 
> *"7 Gresham Road - now Karibu Education Centre was the Abeng Centre. This originally opened in 1862 as the Angell Town Literary & Scientific Institute for Working Men"*
> 
> ...



Here you go,,http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2633587


----------



## CH1 (Jun 3, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Here you go,,http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2633587


Thanks - but this is the new telephone exchange (or at least the 1950s or 1960s one, guessing a date)

Maybe the Linskey post card collection or some other source might have one of 7 Gresham Road (the present day Karibu) 1910 style with telephonists at the ready?

Apparently they looked like this in side:


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 4, 2014)

CH1 said:


> This bit caught my eye:
> 
> *"7 Gresham Road - now Karibu Education Centre was the Abeng Centre. This originally opened in 1862 as the Angell Town Literary & Scientific Institute for Working Men"*
> 
> ...



The website did state that there are lots of mistakes and people are welcome to add comments and corrections. So you are probably correct.


----------



## editor (Jun 4, 2014)

Just a thought, but if anyone has a particular interest in researching any of the stories further, I'd be delighted to post them up on B Buzz (where history stories have proved very popular).


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 4, 2014)

editor i might take you up on this,I will do some research and get back to you.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 4, 2014)

i will do something more on the effra road and stockwell road works at some point.


----------



## editor (Jun 4, 2014)

That's great!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 4, 2014)

timescale is 'when i get round to it' - i'm aware i have promised some research on brixton railway station and the possible cause of the barrington road railway bridge that isn't...

the sudden onset of work and commute has made time and energy a bit scarce


----------



## CH1 (Jun 4, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> The website did state that there are lots of mistakes and people are welcome to add comments and corrections. So you are probably correct.


No you were right - your photo was the current Brixton telephone exchange.

The Karibu centre seems to have gone from being an educational institute to the telephone exchange when phone were first put in in Brixton - maybe around 1900?  Evidently when capacity increased and the exchange was automated it was moved to the present site. No idea when.

The Geograph people have a photo of this first building (below). They say it was  chapel, but although it looks like one, I don't think it ever was. Maybe the Minet might have some info about when it was used as a telephone exchange next time I go there. Or someone at the Brixton Society.

There is absolutely nothing on the net that I can see about a telephone exchange at 7 Gresham Road.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 4, 2014)

CH1 said:


> No you were right - your photo was the current Brixton telephone exchange.
> 
> The Karibu centre seems to have gone from being an educational institute to the telephone exchange when phone were first put in in Brixton - maybe around 1900?  Evidently when capacity increased and the exchange was automated it was moved to the present site. No idea when.
> 
> ...



I found this from lambeth archives,,

Canterbury Crescent, Gresham Road, St John’s Crescent & Wiltshire Road
2.56 Canterbury Crescent is a curving street that links Brixton Road to the south end of
Wiltshire Road. It has an eclectic character due to the variety building styles which
reflect Brixton’s changing character in the mid 19th Century. The St. John’s Buildings
(former St John’s School) on the north side has a low, semi-rural form, is an unusual
find in such an urban location. On the south side, is the fine five storey Queen
Anne style block ‘Dover Mansions’ which has been well restored. A blue-plaque
here commemorates Henry Havelock Ellis.
2.57 Only a small section on the north side of Gresham Road is within the conservation
area - a number of attractive two and three storey houses from the early 19th Century
are now an education centre, a place or worship and a school. One of these
buildings, the Karibu Centre was the Angell Town Institution in 1877 and later served
as Brixton’s first telephone exchange. There is generally a spacious and green
character; to which a number of street trees contribute. There has been a police station
on the corner with Brixton Road since the 1850s; the current post-war building
was designed by J Innes Elliot and is carefully detailed in Portland stone.


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

Leander Road, circa 1914



Buy it here.

Anyone fancy taking the 'now' scene?


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

Josephine Avenue postcard.  [eBay]


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

Brixton Road 1909. [eBay]


----------



## leanderman (Jun 5, 2014)

editor said:


> Leander Road, circa 1914
> 
> View attachment 55146
> 
> ...



Have used that image a few times for street stuff.

Sad that people care much less now about the outside of their homes.

Hedges and railings largely gone, for various reasons. No ivy. 

Some of the houses on the right have been lost, the space now forming the route to Brockwell Park.


----------



## Rushy (Jun 5, 2014)

leanderman said:


> Have used that image a few times for street stuff.
> 
> Sad that people care much less now about the outside of their homes.
> 
> ...


One or two more cars now, perhaps?


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

leanderman said:


> Have used that image a few times for street stuff.
> 
> Sad that people care much less now about the outside of their homes.


The worst is shops. Where once the shop owners took a price in their appearance, I've seen tidier squats tan some of the shop fronts near me. Cheap'n'nasty plastic signage doesn't help either,


----------



## Rushy (Jun 5, 2014)

editor said:


> The worst is shops. Where once the shop owners took a price in their appearance, I've seen tidier squats tan some of the shop fronts near me. Cheap'n'nasty plastic signage doesn't help either,


Yep. But it's not just the old knackered shops. Lots of the new ones don't think about how their signage is going to fit in with the architecture of the building.
Whatever folk might think about estate agents, Wooster & Stock up Acre Lane have done a fantastic job of doing up their shop front. It is really quite beautiful.


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Yep. But it's not just the old knackered shops. Lots of the new ones don't think about how their signage is going to fit in with the architecture of the building.
> Whatever folk might think about estate agents, Wooster & Stock up Acre Lane have done a fantastic job of doing up their shop front. It is really quite beautiful.


Yes, I like that. In their quest to stand out, some shops seem to have lost sight of the fact that simple is often more eye catching.

I like the new sign that the Gresham Cafe has put up. It stands out far more than some of the others in the area, but then the owner spoils it by putting that shitty flapping yellow flag thing outside.



In other news, there's been work going on in the old solicitor's office, but nothing I can see in My Father's Place.
And boy do I wish we could have our Post Office back.


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

Love this 1950 view of Atlantic Road. Complete with upper quadrant semaphore signal!


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

Look how much smarter Electric Avenue was in the 1970s. 

(I'll try and find the photo credit later as I can't remember the site, despite the hefty watermark)


----------



## leanderman (Jun 5, 2014)

editor said:


> View attachment 55162
> 
> Look how much smarter Electric Avenue was in the 1970s.
> 
> (I'll try and find the photo credit later as I can't remember the site, despite the hefty watermark)



It's heartbreaking.


----------



## Rushy (Jun 5, 2014)

editor said:


> View attachment 55161
> 
> Love this 1950 view of Atlantic Road. Complete with upper quadrant semaphore signal!


Topically, David Greig in the background.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (Jun 5, 2014)

editor said:


> View attachment 55162
> 
> Look how much smarter Electric Avenue was in the 1970s.
> 
> (I'll try and find the photo credit later as I can't remember the site, despite the hefty watermark)



I think ten, fifteen years from now the market will no longer exist and Electric Avenue will be full of swanky shops that will make the "Village" look run down.


----------



## editor (Jun 5, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Topically, David Greig in the background.


They were all over Brixton!


----------



## buscador (Jun 5, 2014)

editor said:


> View attachment 55162
> 
> Look how much smarter Electric Avenue was in the 1970s.
> 
> (I'll try and find the photo credit later as I can't remember the site, despite the hefty watermark)



That "micheal leigh" shop on the corner... is there one of those on the Walworth Road? Every time I go past it I want to get a ladder and change the e and a round.

ETA Yes there is, I just failed to google it properly because my fingers refuse to type "micheal".


----------



## RoyReed (Jun 6, 2014)

Electric Avenue was even smarter in 1910. It's criminal that the arcading was ever allowed to be lost.


----------



## leanderman (Jun 6, 2014)

More horrid signs on the way today with a revamp (or creation of) a tiny booth near Holland & Barrett


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jun 6, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> Electric Avenue was even smarter in 1910. It's criminal that the arcading was ever allowed to be lost.
> 
> View attachment 55219



CCTV couldn't see the muggers and pickpockets


----------



## Onket (Jun 6, 2014)

leanderman said:


> More horrid signs on the way today with a revamp (or creation of) a tiny booth near Holland & Barrett


A tiny booth?


----------



## leanderman (Jun 6, 2014)

Onket said:


> A tiny booth?



Tautology


----------



## oryx (Jun 6, 2014)

editor said:


> Brixton Road 1909. [eBay]
> View attachment 55148



I love that church - it's one of the most beautiful buildings I know.


----------



## CH1 (Jun 7, 2014)

oryx said:


> I love that church - it's one of the most beautiful buildings I know.


The architect (Beresford Pite - who lived in Brixton in the 1890s) also designed St Paul's Anglican Cathedral in Kampala, Uganda (now known as Namirembe Cathedral).


----------



## boohoo (Jun 7, 2014)

Rushy said:


> Topically, David Greig in the background.



The archives has a book written by the wife of David Greig - some of it is interesting.


----------



## editor (Jun 9, 2014)

You can almost feel the clean, sharp modernist future that they thought was coming right up in the 70s. 

 

The Tesco has moved, the car park demolished and Station Rd furniture stores are no more.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Jun 11, 2014)

This picture is from the 1970's,What is now the electric brixton was previously The Palladium picture house followed by the Ace which hosted punk and new romantic bands in the 70's and early 80's.It became the Fridge in the mid 80's.


----------



## teuchter (Jun 11, 2014)

The ideal Brixton shop: posh on the outside, proletarian on the inside.


----------



## Tricky Skills (Jun 11, 2014)

teuchter said:


> The ideal Brixton shop: posh on the outside, proletarian on the inside.



...Speedy Noddles


----------



## Rushy (Jun 11, 2014)

Tricky Skills said:


> ...Speedy Noddles



There are times when I could really do with a quick noddle.


----------



## Onket (Jun 11, 2014)

*nods*


----------



## Rushy (Jun 12, 2014)

Onket said:


> *nods*


That was bit _too _quick for me.


----------



## editor (Jun 17, 2014)

Just posted this:







A century of Brixton Road views – from bootmakers to Caribbean cuisine


----------



## cuppa tee (Jun 17, 2014)

editor said:


> I've never heard of flexifootball, but it's coming to the Evelyn Grace Academy:
> 
> 7-Aside Summer Flexifootball comes to Brixton for the World Cup



Isn't posting future events stretching the concept of history a little ?


----------



## editor (Jun 17, 2014)

cuppa tee said:


> Isn't posting future events stretching the concept of history a little ?


Wrong thread, sorry.


----------



## cuppa tee (Jun 17, 2014)

editor said:


> Wrong thread, sorry.


..... no problem


----------



## editor (Jun 22, 2014)

Just bought this 1927 Brixton Theatre programme on ebay. Will scan in and report when it arrives!


----------



## MAD-T-REX (Jun 23, 2014)

'Book of words' should be on every publication.

"I say, what's in that book you've got?"

"Words."


----------



## editor (Jun 27, 2014)

I've written this piece: Brixton history – the London, Gloucestershire & North Hants Dairy on Canterbury Crescent but it's been really hard to find out the fate of the original building. 






Does anyone know when it was built? Did it stay in use until the beastly International House was built? And when was that thing built? 
And what happened to the London, Gloucestershire & North Hants Dairy?


----------



## editor (Jun 29, 2014)

Look at this amazing photo taken in the Coach and Horses in 1978.



Source: http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchDetail&VBID=2K1HZOD2KS9GP&PN=34&IID=29YL53VO2Y

 

1975

http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=2TYRYD00VV00


----------



## CH1 (Jun 30, 2014)

editor said:


> View attachment 56696
> Source: http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchDetail&VBID=2K1HZOD2KS9GP&PN=34&IID=29YL53VO2Y
> View attachment 56697
> 1975 http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=2TYRYD00VV00


Brilliant photos.
Two others struck me:

which he says was outside his window in Brixton. I reckon that's Rushcroft Road looking across at the car park, which has now been redeveloped as part of the Ritz/Metropolitan flats. (as discussed previously)
Also he has a nice shot of Desmond's Hip City - formerly of 55 Atlantic Road:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=2TYRYD00VV00


----------



## editor (Jul 2, 2014)

Just posted this: Two views of Atlantic Road, Brixton, 1978 to 2014


----------



## davesgcr (Jul 4, 2014)

editor said:


> View attachment 55161
> 
> Love this 1950 view of Atlantic Road. Complete with upper quadrant semaphore signal!




But he only has the home off and the distant is ON - (therefore ., the driver needs to start feathering the brake handle !)


----------



## thatguyhex (Jul 9, 2014)

CH1 said:


> One undesirable side-effect of the redevelopment was to destroy the vibrant little arcade beside the underground station which gave much quicker access through to the BR station. And had a cafe (as opposed to a Starbucks).


Are there any photos of that about?


----------



## CH1 (Jul 9, 2014)

thatguyhex said:


> Are there any photos of that about?


Best I can do for now:
Here is general view from the front. The arcade was between Dorothy Perkins and the tube steps (which remain as they always were)

source: http://www.urban75.org/blog/brixton-tube-station-then-and-now/
One from the Electric Lane end, shortly before closure


One looking from Brixton Road end towards Electric Lane

Source of last 2 pics: http://www.spacehijackers.org/html/projects/brixton.html
I can't remember too much about the Arcade. There was a very popular cafe at the front end near Brixton Road and a shop selling incense and religious paraphernalia near the Electric Avenue end - I think this is the one now in Market Row opposite Seven Bar.


----------



## thatguyhex (Jul 9, 2014)

Thanks! Narrow public spaces and routes (especially ones that pass through buildings, and other oddities) are a perennial source of interest for me.

Ah, love the Space Hijackers.


----------



## editor (Aug 23, 2014)

Just added a piece on Brixton Road. I'm not entirely confident that I've got the right order for the fast moving owners of every shop as some businesses seem to swap hands really quickly.












http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/08/...son-tailors-and-the-beehive-pub-brixton-road/


----------



## CH1 (Aug 23, 2014)

editor said:


> Just added a piece on Brixton Road. I'm not entirely confident that I've got the right order for the fast moving owners of every shop as some businesses seem to swap hands really quickly.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Can I add a photo from  well known source showing Lloyds Bank 395-411 Brixton Road. I remember using this branch when I took over responsibility for the account of Brixton Council of Churches (as then was). Lloyds closed the Brixton Road branch in 1986, and BCC much put out had to change to Midland (now HSBC) as they wished to be loyal to Brixton rather than conduct their account at the Lloyds branch in Camberwell.  
The photo is from 1961 - well before my time!


----------



## uk benzo (Aug 23, 2014)

CH1 said:


> Can I add a photo from  well known source showing Lloyds Bank 395-411 Brixton Road. I remember using this branch when I took over responsibility for the account of Brixton Council of Churches (as then was). Lloyds closed the Brixton Road branch in 1986, and BCC much put out had to change to Midland (now HSBC) as they wished to be loyal to Brixton rather than conduct their account at the Lloyds branch in Camberwell.
> The photo is from 1961 - well before my time!
> View attachment 59982



I thought stones electrical shop was on Atlantic Road opposite Brixton train station.


----------



## editor (Aug 24, 2014)

uk benzo said:


> I thought stones electrical shop was on Atlantic Road opposite Brixton train station.


Maybe they had several branches?






http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/old-shop-front-revealed-on-atlantic-road.227033/


----------



## editor (Oct 5, 2014)

Anyone remember the Brixton News. This is from the 1975 Black Joy film.


----------



## editor (Oct 5, 2014)

Interesting pic of the old canopies on Electric Avenue from the same film:


----------



## SarfLondoner (Oct 5, 2014)

editor said:


> Interesting pic of the old canopies on Electric Avenue from the same film:
> 
> View attachment 62062



Its half way down near nour, You can see the radio rentals signage top right. My mum rented our first colour tele from there !


----------



## editor (Oct 6, 2014)

Posted a feature today:











http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/10/brixton-history-a-hundred-years-of-brixton-road-in-photos/


----------



## SarfLondoner (Oct 7, 2014)

Some footage of Brixton high street and Electric avenue!


----------



## editor (Oct 16, 2014)

Came across this lovely old sign in Acre Lane:






http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/10/...n-a-bit-of-history-revealed-at-140-acre-lane/


----------



## thatguyhex (Oct 16, 2014)

Wonderful. Thanks for capturing a record of it.


----------



## editor (Oct 16, 2014)

thatguyhex said:


> Wonderful. Thanks for capturing a record of it.


I had to be quick. It's all covered up again. Do you know if the restaurant is still open?


----------



## boohoo (Oct 16, 2014)

editor said:


> Came across this lovely old sign in Acre Lane:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Stunning columns.


----------



## thatguyhex (Oct 16, 2014)

editor said:


> I had to be quick. It's all covered up again. Do you know if the restaurant is still open?


I haven't been that far up Acre Lane recently... not sure!

By the way, I passed your piece onto someone worth following: 

I forgot to cc @brixtonbuzz, but he retweeted it to his 12K followers. So I hope you get some traffic out of it.


----------



## editor (Oct 17, 2014)

Another little photo feature: 
Brixton history – Pomfret Road and Coldharbour Lane, Brixton a century apart


----------



## brixtonblade (Oct 17, 2014)

"The Post Office next door has long gone (it’s now a pharmacy) although it also serves as a Western Union money transfer agent."

My memory might be playing tricks on me but didnt one of the shops on that little block have a post office counter at the back until ~10 years ago?


----------



## CH1 (Oct 18, 2014)

brixtonblade said:


> "The Post Office next door has long gone (it’s now a pharmacy) although it also serves as a Western Union money transfer agent."
> 
> My memory might be playing tricks on me but didnt one of the shops on that little block have a post office counter at the back until ~10 years ago?


My recollection is that the Pharmacy actually was the Post Office (I reckon the Post Office counter part packed up around 2008 - but might be wrong about the date)


----------



## editor (Oct 22, 2014)

Thought I'd better post these before they face away


















*Brixton Polaroids 1994-1995, Coldharbour Lane and the Barrier Block*


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 30, 2014)

posted on tweeter today by "london mush"


----------



## SarfLondoner (Oct 31, 2014)

Water Lane 1969, Crownstone road junction.


----------



## editor (Oct 31, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Water Lane 1969, Crownstone road junction.
> View attachment 63144


I wrote a piece about that stretch a few years back:  http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/brixton-water-lane.html


----------



## leanderman (Oct 31, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Water Lane 1969, Crownstone road junction.
> View attachment 63144



Could really do with that chippie.


----------



## leanderman (Oct 31, 2014)

editor said:


> I wrote a piece about that stretch a few years back:  http://www.urban75.org/brixton/photos/brixton-water-lane.html



Fine piece


----------



## editor (Oct 31, 2014)

Things certainly have changed around town. Halloween past in Brixton – a spooky poetry night in the Prince Albert, 2005


----------



## SarfLondoner (Oct 31, 2014)

leanderman said:


> Could really do with that chippie.


Indeed, My earliest memory of that place was getting a portion of chips for 15p and as much crackling as you could eat for free !


----------



## SarfLondoner (Nov 23, 2014)

Brixton Town hall/High street 1931.


----------



## happyshopper (Nov 24, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Brixton Town hall/High street 1931.View attachment 64099


Are you sure it is 1931? The traffic doesn't look right.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Nov 24, 2014)

happyshopper said:


> Are you sure it is 1931? The traffic doesn't look right.


I wouldn't know, The site i got it from claims it is.


----------



## leanderman (Nov 24, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> I wouldn't know, The site i got it from claims it is.



Does look about 20 years earlier. 

That empty space where KFC now is would be great for a bus stop.


----------



## Sirena (Nov 24, 2014)

happyshopper said:


> Are you sure it is 1931? The traffic doesn't look right.


That might be a date in the bottom right corner... or it might be another number..


----------



## editor (Nov 24, 2014)

I'd say early Edwardian.


----------



## leanderman (Nov 24, 2014)

editor said:


> I'd say early Edwardian.



1901-1903 then!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 24, 2014)

There were a few open top buses still around by 1931 but think 1901-3 is a bit too early both for the bus and the motor taxi cabs - very few motor cabs in London until post 1906.  The 'B Type' bus took to the streets in 1910.

Could just be pre-1914, could be just in to the 1920s.

Dates on photos / postcards can be fallible - even in official collections.  Can't remember where I encountered one of an electric tram in Deptford dated some years before that line was electrified but think I dropped someone an e-mail about it...

And don't get me started on old black & white photographs that have been colourised wrong...


----------



## SarfLondoner (Nov 25, 2014)

Now and then, Footage of Brixton.


----------



## editor (Nov 25, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Now and then, Footage of Brixton.



Alternatively titled: all the editor's hard work and photos stolen without credit.


----------



## editor (Nov 25, 2014)

And just look at the racist comments that the photo thief has posted up: 
https://www.youtube.com/user/nostalgiclondon


----------



## SarfLondoner (Nov 25, 2014)

editor said:


> And just look at the racist comments that the photo thief has posted up:
> https://www.youtube.com/user/nostalgiclondon


Just had a look,Not good are they and why i tend not to read you tube comments.


----------



## editor (Nov 25, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> Just had a look,Not good are they and why i tend not to read you tube comments.


He's a racist scumbag.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Nov 25, 2014)

editor said:


> He's a racist scumbag.


How doe's that shit manage to stay on view?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 25, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> How doe's that shit manage to stay on view?



Youtube seems to attract more than its fair share of that sort of shite and not deal with it...


----------



## Winot (Nov 25, 2014)

editor said:


> Alternatively titled: all the editor's hard work and photos stolen without credit.



Do YouTube not have an IP policy? Can you get them taken down?


----------



## editor (Nov 26, 2014)

Winot said:


> Do YouTube not have an IP policy? Can you get them taken down?


I tried before and forgot all about, but I've submitted another request.


----------



## calno4 (Nov 27, 2014)

7th February 1939, view of Loughborough Park, Sussex Road School is to the right of middle, Guinness Trust Buildings bottom left.


----------



## editor (Nov 28, 2014)

Just posted this: Twilight stroll along Brixton Road – history, architecture and the buried River Effra


----------



## teuchter (Nov 28, 2014)

editor said:


>


Would be great if someone could give that building a bit of TLC. A bit of paint and tidy up and it could look really good.


----------



## calno4 (Nov 28, 2014)

Halnaker Lodge 372 Coldharbour Lane, it stood next to Walton Lodge. It was demolished in 1933. Image is from _Small Houses of the Late Georgian Period_ 1750–1820 by Stanley C. Ramsey (1919). This charming Regency house stood on the north side of the road opposite Somerleyton Road. It was a two-storey stucco-fronted house with overhanging eaves, and flanked by single-storey wings. In the centre was a semi-circular projecting porch with unfluted Greek Doric columns, which supported the delicate ironwork of the verandah above. Theres also photographs and measured drawings in a supplement to _ The Architect and Building News_ for July 1, 1932


----------



## editor (Nov 28, 2014)

teuchter said:


> Would be great if someone could give that building a bit of TLC. A bit of paint and tidy up and it could look really good.


It's looked unloved for a very long time indeed. 

Here's how it looked in the 70s.


----------



## editor (Nov 28, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 64281
> Halnaker Lodge 372 Coldharbour Lane, it stood next to Walton Lodge. It was demolished in 1933. Image is from _Small Houses of the Late Georgian Period_ 1750–1820 by Stanley C. Ramsey (1919). This charming Regency house stood on the north side of the road opposite Somerleyton Road. It was a two-storey stucco-fronted house with overhanging eaves, and flanked by single-storey wings. In the centre was a semi-circular projecting porch with unfluted Greek Doric columns, which supported the delicate ironwork of the verandah above. Theres also photographs and measured drawings in a supplement to _ The Architect and Building News_ for July 1, 1932


Ooh, that's a brilliant find! Are there any larger versions?


----------



## calno4 (Nov 28, 2014)

Is that any bigger?


----------



## calno4 (Nov 28, 2014)

Re Halnaker Lodge, an ad from London Evening Standard April 25, 1870


----------



## calno4 (Nov 28, 2014)

The freehold for Halnaker Lodge up for sale in 1866, along with some other nearby plots, London Evening Standard April 12, 1866


----------



## peterkro (Nov 28, 2014)

editor said:


> It's looked unloved for a very long time indeed.
> 
> Here's how it looked in the 70s.


I remember that in the seventies (not surprising it's at the end of my street) the marriage place on one side the one on the other side was a electro/mechanical controls wholesaler also long since gone.


----------



## editor (Nov 28, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 64283
> Is that any bigger?


Same size!


----------



## calno4 (Dec 1, 2014)

*Brixton Astoria was very nearly destroyed in World War 2 - The distinctive entrance dome can be seen in the background of this photograph taken on 22 May, 1941, of the crater caused by a bomb that just missed the theatre*
http://theatreorgans.com/southerncross/victoria/DallasBrooks.htm


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

Band of the First Surrey Rifles playing outside the Bonaza Stores Brixton Road on the corner of Electric Avenue in 1915. Lambeth Landmark photo


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

Described as 
A man in a Brixton barber reads about the 1964 bout between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. Theres a few more taken in Brixton the same year.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rs-ago-sixties-began-swing.html#ixzz3KhOpQUIl 
http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=bBOTTqvd0r3Pooab7jrHcU&u=DailyMail


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

Pea souper. Taken December 6th 1952 outside Timothy Whites and Taylor, corner of Electric Avenue

More on the smog of that year here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eat-Smog-choked-London-60-years-ago-week.html


----------



## boohoo (Dec 2, 2014)

editor said:


> It's looked unloved for a very long time indeed.
> 
> Here's how it looked in the 70s.



My parents got married at the Registry office next door.


----------



## boohoo (Dec 2, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 64281
> Halnaker Lodge 372 Coldharbour Lane, it stood next to Walton Lodge. It was demolished in 1933. Image is from _Small Houses of the Late Georgian Period_ 1750–1820 by Stanley C. Ramsey (1919). This charming Regency house stood on the north side of the road opposite Somerleyton Road. It was a two-storey stucco-fronted house with overhanging eaves, and flanked by single-storey wings. In the centre was a semi-circular projecting porch with unfluted Greek Doric columns, which supported the delicate ironwork of the verandah above. Theres also photographs and measured drawings in a supplement to _ The Architect and Building News_ for July 1, 1932



So many plots of land had houses like this that were removed to create terraced houses or something else.  A large part of Streatham High Road was all built in the 1930s; before that it was large houses like this lodge with big gardens. The Wandsworth archives has some interesting pics from the 1930s and articles about rents being too high and does Streatham need any more shops.


----------



## leanderman (Dec 2, 2014)

boohoo said:


> So many plots of land had houses like this that were removed to create terraced houses or something else.  A large part of Streatham High Road was all built in the 1930s; before that it was large houses like this lodge with big gardens. The Wandsworth archives has some interesting pics from the 1930s and articles about rents being too high and does Streatham need any more shops.



The villas up Tulse Hill, where the estate now is, had gardens the size of farms.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

Burroughs Pie n Mash Shop Brixton in the 80´s. More interior photos here http://thelondoncolumn.com/tag/tim-wells/


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

Burroughs again, no date on this one


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

Pall Mall Gazette, 5th June 1890


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 2, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 64489 Burroughs again, no date on this one


I was going to mention that sign,It always amused as a kid because when i would see it i was fed up, because my mum had dragged me to the market with her.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

John Fyfe a granite merchant supplied the granite for the building of the Forth Bridge. He was also the person who laid out Electric Avenue. Johns younger brother - Alexander Leslie Fyfe of 56 Loughborough Park - and another chap called John Martin of 34 Geneva Road patented the lighting system that lit up Electric Avenue. Together they were the Fyfe-Main Electric Lighting and Construction Company. They exhibited the lighting system at Crystal Palace in 1882.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

It was also their system that lit up St Matthews, it being the first instance of the use of electricity in a place of worship. It happened on the 2nd of November in 1883


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

John Fyfe was also responsible for those lovely extravagant christmas decorations we see in photos of electric avenue. He was well liked by the brixton traders and there was a big "do" held for him in 1896 in a Holborn Restaurant. One of the principal toasts of the evening was "The Traders of Brixton" and this was responded to by Mr Edwin Jones J.P L.C.C  the proprietor of the "palatial building the Bon Marche" 

Article also says that it was Mr Edwins "spirit, enterprise and judgement that has converted the Bon Marche into the highly successful institution which it has now become"

Heres a snippet of what else was said that evening during the toasts
 



And this one describes the decorations of 1899


----------



## calno4 (Dec 2, 2014)

Electric Avenue advertised for sale on 10th December 1923 after John Fyfes death


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

I wonder if this chap was the lucky bidder ? ...Percy Mayer. Wikipedia says Brixton Plc was founded in 1924 by Percy Mayer as _Brixton Estate Limited_ to acquire a 6-acre site at Brixton Road.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> I wonder if this chap was the lucky bidder ? ...Percy Mayer. Wikipedia says Brixton Plc was founded in 1924 by Percy Mayer as _Brixton Estate Limited_ to acquire a 6-acre site at Brixton Road.



Probably not, this was the opening ceremony of Brixton Estate Limited in 1924, and it was held at the Kennington end of Brixton road on the forecourt of the General Motor Cab Co


----------



## teuchter (Dec 3, 2014)

Do we know whether this John Fyfe chap was a Scot?


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 3, 2014)

teuchter said:


> Do we know whether this John Fyfe chap was a Scot?


If this is the same geezer, then yes he was
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/N13726007
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/John_Fyfe
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F184635


Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 16/06/1887:
Aberdeen Lime Co. received telegram from London from Capt. Watt, ALEXANDER NICOL - "Have been in collision with S.S. CHELSEA in Lower Hope, London. Cause of collision - steamer starboarded her helm". ALEXANDER NICOL was carrying cargo of stones from Mr. John Fyfe, Granite Merchant, Aberdeen to London firm


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

teuchter said:


> Do we know whether this John Fyfe chap was a Scot?


Yes he was, from Aberdeenshire. This 1902 portrait of him by John Singer Sargant was presented to him by friends at a dinner and he donated it straight away to an Aberdeen Art Gallery. He died 4 years later.




His obituary talks of his quarries in Kemnay from "which granite has been supplied for nearly every important engineering structure in Britain"


----------



## Onket (Dec 3, 2014)

Looks like a Scot. Dour.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

Am just reading about two clauses in Henry Budds Will. The Henry that erected the Budd Memorial. One was that his two surviving sons should maintain the famiy mausoleum _“at their own expense throughout their lifetime”_. And the second is more bizarre regarding him not wanting them to grow moustaches!
_
‘In case my son Edward shall wear moustaches, then the devise herein before contained in favour of him, his appointees, heirs, and assigns, of my said estate called ‘Pepper Park’, shall be void; and I devise the same estate to my son William, his appointees, heirs, and assigns. And in case my said son William shall wear moustaches, then the devise hereinbefore contained in favour of him, his appointees, heirs, and assigns of my said estate, called Twickenham Park, shall be void; and I devise the said estate to my said son Edward, his appointees, heirs, and assigns.’_

More here http://www.stmgrts.org.uk/archives/2014/06/heir_today_gone_tomorrow.html


----------



## teuchter (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> Yes he was, from Aberdeenshire.



Excellent. Now I can add Brixton to my list of things that were invented by Scots.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

1981 Riots


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

I wonder if they picked straws for who got the dudtbin lid


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

This ones on the corner of Leeson Road, I used to go to Snooks sweetshop there to get my dads woodbines.
Lots of good photos of brixton here http://hoffman.photoshelter.com/search?I_DSC=Brixton&_ACT=search&I_DSC_AND=t
The riots of 81 and 85, The St Agnes eviction, The 121 centre evictions and more


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

Mr Snooks sweetshop was here in Leeson Road, just along from the pub that got burnt down, used to cut through Somerleyton Passge to get there. Back then children could buy tobacco if they had a note from their parent.


----------



## editor (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 64541
> 1981 Riots


What building is the photographer stood on?


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

editor said:


> What building is the photographer stood on?


I need to think about that, but think it was as you come out of somerleyton rd and turn right, cross the road and there was a side street there, think there were railway arches down there


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

editor said:


> What building is the photographer stood on?


Still thinking about it, was there a pub there once upon time?


----------



## editor (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> Still thinking about it, was there a pub there once upon time?


Not a pub but I think there must have been old shops where the car park is now (next to Carlton Mansions). It's the Somerleyton side of the Barrier, but taken further back from Coldharbour Lane.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

editor said:


> What building is the photographer stood on?


Think it was where the Angel pub was, though it looks closed in that photo. Pretty sure I recall the market traders storing their stalls down that side road of a night


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

editor said:


> Not a pub but I think there must have been old shops where the car park is now (next to Carlton Mansions). It's the Somerleyton side of the Barrier, but taken further back from Coldharbour Lane.
> 
> View attachment 64544


Just read that, I´ll take another look with at it with that in mind


----------



## editor (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> Think it was where the Angel pub was, though it looks closed in that photo. Pretty sure I recall the market traders storing their stalls down that side road of a night


No, the Angel is much further down. I'm sure this pic was taken around the corner of Coldharbour Lane and Somerleyton.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> Just read that, I´ll take another look with at it with that in mind


I dont remember there being any shops in Somerleyton Road, I remember the houses in Somerleyton before Moorland came along but cant recall any shops.


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## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

This is the corner I thought it was


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## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

I see what you mean, the roof line of the Barrier Block looks different. Ummm..but the thing is there were no side roads as you walked up Somerleyton...ahh what about the other side, the Loughborough park side...I will give it some thought


----------



## editor (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> I see what you mean, the roof line of the Barrier Block looks different. Ummm..but the thing is there were no side roads as you walked up Somerleyton...ahh what about the other side, the Loughborough park side...I will give it some thought


It's definitely not there - the camera was looking towards Somerleyton Road from central Brixton.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

This 1950.   From whereabouts was the 1981 photo took do you think? So I can get my bearings as to where you are referring to. Looking at this I can see that the Angel is much furthur along than I thought it was. I can see a gap in the buildings along the left side of Somerleyton. (Somerleyton is the one above the word "photo" in this text). You see the very white building, along from the labour exchange, thats about roughly where I thought it taken from. I will ask some neighbours who are older than me about it.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 3, 2014)

This is intriguing stuff, Is it defiantly not Moorland and Coldharbour lane junction ?


----------



## boohoo (Dec 3, 2014)

editor said:


> Not a pub but I think there must have been old shops where the car park is now (next to Carlton Mansions). It's the Somerleyton side of the Barrier, but taken further back from Coldharbour Lane.
> 
> View attachment 64544



It's not the car park as the mural was there but it could be where the school building is.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

Been looking long n hard at that riot photo and now think it was possibly taken from the left of this group but from the labour exchange side of the road, up towards the Granville arcade. Its really puzzling me because I was backwards and forwards down this road for years but cant remember what it was.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 3, 2014)

Interior of the Labour Exchange in 1976


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## editor (Dec 3, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 64541
> 1981 Riots


This is driving me mad.

Given the fact that the part of the Barrier Block shown runs parallel with Somerleyton Road, the acute angle suggests that the photo was in fact taken somewhere off Somerleyton Road looking north towards Coldharbour Lane - but then what the hell is that road/shop?!

If the railway wasn't there it would make sense, and there's been no roads that have vanished along that stretch, and  Somerletyon Passage looks too far back.


----------



## editor (Dec 3, 2014)

So this angle comes close to the original -I'm looking north up Somerleyton towards Coldharbour Lane.

The details of the Barrier line up exactly, but the photographer has to be set back much further than Somerleyton Road. He/she can't be the other side of the railway so it has to be in where the tatty council buildings are now?


----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

editor said:


> View attachment 64564
> 
> So this angle comes close to the original -I'm looking north up Somerleyton towards Coldharbour Lane.
> 
> The details of the Barrier line up exactly, but the photographer has to be set back much further than Somerleyton Road. He/she can't be the other side of the railway so it has to be in where the tatty council buildings are now?



This is the spot that I keep looking at on street view too. I have spoken to one older friend so far, and his response was ..

"Its taken from Canterbury Crescent at its junction with Coldharbour Lane almost opposite Geneva road. The canterbury arms used to be on the corner there used to drink in there as worked in Canterbury Crescent at Nicholls transport in the early 1960s. The give way sign indicates that it is a junction between a minor and major road"

"It was more at the bottom of Geneva Road. If you went down Somerleyton to the labour exchange turned right walked past the childrens nursery it was the next turning on your left"

He added " it was there in 1963 just before I joined Navy so must have been shut down 64/65 as there was some development done around then and it wasnt there 71"

I wonder if he is mistaken and talking about the Angel. The person I would like to show it aint online tonight, hopefully he´ll remenber.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

I keep looking at the policeman and wondering what it is they could be looking at in the direction they are gazing. One seems to be looking at the person who took the shot. Hes looking upwards as if the photographer is higher up. The one with the dustbin lid seems to be looking into the distance, watching out , but if in the council buildings there wouldnt really be anyone there to approach from that direction. And the guy on the roof, how did he get on the roof.....I am truly baffled


----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

and that porta cabin thing, and all the stuff growing in front of it. I´ve a vague recollection of that cabin, but again in my minds eye it was too the right at the top of somerleyton


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

calno4 said:


> This is the spot that I keep looking at on street view too. I have spoken to one older friend so far, and his response was ..
> 
> "Its taken from Canterbury Crescent at its junction with Coldharbour Lane almost opposite Geneva road. The canterbury arms used to be on the corner there used to drink in there as worked in Canterbury Crescent at Nicholls transport in the early 1960s. The give way sign indicates that it is a junction between a minor and major road"
> 
> ...


It's definitely not taken from 'Canterbury Crescent' (he means Valentia Place) because the part of the Barrier Block facing that has has a completely different type of façade. See it below. The one in the photo is defintely Somerleyton Road, looking from the south, 

He must mean the Angel too, because you can't see the block from the  Canterbury Arms because of the railway.


----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

I agree


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

calno4 said:


> I agree


It is baffling though because I can't work out what road the police van is on. It looks too far away to be Somerlyton Road (which runs right up next to the block) and not far away enough to be Somerleyton Passage - although the Passage would make some kind of sense as that would be a likely to be a flash point from Railton Road on the other side of the tracks.


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

Oh hang on - I think I've got it!- the raised area is the railway tracks, so we're looking across from the road that runs parallel with Railton Road (that got closed after the riot).

Edit: It's Mayall Road. So could the guy be standing on the Windsor Castle?

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/bars/windsor-castle.html


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

It could also be a shop, but the photo from the period show the area cleared around the pub - so perhaps you could see right across the tracks to Somerleyton Road and the block.  I think we've cracked it!


----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

editor said:


> Oh hang on - I think I've got it!- the raised area is the railway tracks, so we're looking across from the road that runs parallel with Railton Road (that got closed after the riot).
> 
> Edit: It's Mayall Road. So could the guy be standing on the Windsor Castle?
> 
> http://www.urban75.org/brixton/bars/windsor-castle.html


Just gonna take a good look at that


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

Windsor Castle pics - http://www.theguardian.com/uk/gallery/2011/apr/10/police-race


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

I've found the shop he was standing on! The wood matches perfectly! It's on Kellet Road.


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

So the picture was taken from here, looking across the railway tracks. I am so glad that's been sorted. It's been bugging me all night!


----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

editor said:


> I've found the shop he was standing on! The wood matches perfectly! It's on Kellet Road.
> 
> View attachment 64569


BINGO!


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)




----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

I am well impressed


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

And here's what was going on to their left:


----------



## editor (Dec 4, 2014)

And a similar view today:


----------



## calno4 (Dec 4, 2014)

Probably through that gap on the left, and taken by someone from the window of the big house on the corner


----------



## uk benzo (Dec 4, 2014)

Amazing set of photos! Thank you calno4


----------



## boohoo (Dec 4, 2014)

good work editor


----------



## MsEyeson (Dec 5, 2014)

Posted this on another thread thought id post it on here - enjoy 
''Found some videos today of ''Good Old Brixton''


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## boohoo (Dec 6, 2014)

MsEyeson Thanks so much for this. The top video clip has the man who danced in the arcades a very clear child hood memory for me.


----------



## uk benzo (Dec 6, 2014)

Wow, The Baron has been around for a while then.


----------



## thriller (Dec 7, 2014)

Radio rentals and the light of india restaurant. Memories...


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 7, 2014)

uk benzo said:


> Wow, The Baron has been around for a while then.


I would say about 30 years.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 7, 2014)

thriller said:


> Radio rentals and the light of india restaurant. Memories...


Used to watch the fa cup final through the window..


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 7, 2014)

. 
I can't imagine two double deckers on Atlantic road theses days,This was 1986.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 7, 2014)

Barkers corner was a furniture shop,It burnt to the ground during the riots. It was on the corner of Gresham road and Coldharbour lane.


----------



## SarfLondoner (Dec 7, 2014)

This was the view from what is now the Barrier block site,Looking from Somerlyton Road.


----------



## Jangleballix (Dec 8, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> View attachment 64724 Barkers corner was a furniture shop,It burnt to the ground in riots. It was on the corner of Gresham road and Coldharbour lane.


Not to forget the incineration of an unfortunate occupant of one of the flats above.


----------



## davesgcr (Dec 8, 2014)

Minor point - but Paul Vaughan - broadcaster and writer , wrote of his early days (and family history) around Brixton in "Something in Linoleum" - wonderful book - died about 3 weeks ago. The family followed the well trodden trail to suburban and new Raynes Park .....


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## editor (Dec 8, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> This was the view from what is now the Barrier block site,Looking from Somerlyton Road.
> 
> View attachment 64725


I posted those pics a few years back:

http://www.urban75.org/blog/the-mystery-of-the-brixton-loughborough-park-tavern-solved/


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Dec 8, 2014)

boohoo said:


> MsEyeson Thanks so much for this. The top video clip has the man who danced in the arcades a very clear child hood memory for me.



I remember him, and still wonder where he is every time I pass there


----------



## Winot (Dec 13, 2014)

Anyone know?

The Brixton Post Office on Acre Lane, 1944. Where was this exactly? http://t.co/WzuyN1c710

He's a good person to follow if you are into London past.


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## SarfLondoner (Dec 13, 2014)

Winot said:


> Anyone know?
> 
> The Brixton Post Office on Acre Lane, 1944. Where was this exactly? http://t.co/WzuyN1c710
> 
> He's a good person to follow if you are into London past.


I believe it was opposite the town hall and was bombed in 1944.


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## SarfLondoner (Dec 13, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> I believe it was opposite the town hall and was bombed in 1944.


Correction, It was bombed between October 1940 and June 1941.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 13, 2014)

Winot said:


> Anyone know?
> 
> The Brixton Post Office on Acre Lane, 1944. Where was this exactly? http://t.co/WzuyN1c710
> 
> He's a good person to follow if you are into London past.



This (V1 and V2 logs) records a "V1 struck a row of shops/buildings opposite the Town Hall in Acre Lane" on 28 June 1944 (article about it on brixton buzz here)

Bomb Sight records two high explosive bombs landing on Acre Lane in the 1940-41 blitz.

My 1939 equivalent of an A-Z does not mark post offices

www.old-maps.co.uk shows a post office at 10 Acre Lane in 1951 and a fairly large empty space (bomb site?) behind.

10-18 Acre Lane got re-developed in the 1970s - this parade of shops / flats

The two stripes of light coloured brickwork in the building to the right of the post office match 8 Acre Lane (Street View shows it as Banks Opticians)

I can't be certain, but 10 Acre Lane seems a strong candidate.

There is a post box outside - sometimes these show traces of having had a "post office ->" sign fixed on top where they used to be outside a sub post office. I can't tell from Street View whether it has this.

Has anyone got a 1930s directory that would cover Brixton?

(edited - error in street numbers)


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## CH1 (Dec 13, 2014)

Puddy_Tat said:


> www.old-maps.co.uk shows a post office at 10 Acre Lane in 1951 and a fairly large empty space (bomb site?) behind.





Winot said:


> Anyone know?
> The Brixton Post Office on Acre Lane, 1944. Where was this exactly? http://t.co/WzuyN1c710
> He's a good person to follow if you are into London past.


Could you be more precise about this? Following your link I see PW which is Place of Worship - being the former 8th Church of Christ Scientist (now an Indian pentecostal church).

I have an old Bartholomews London street atlas from 1930, but that is  no help.

The logical solution is a visit to the Minet Archives to consult Kelly's etc.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 13, 2014)

CH1 said:


> Could you be more precise about this? Following your link I see PW which is Place of Worship - being the former 8th Church of Christ Scientist (now an Indian pentecostal church).
> 
> I have an old Bartholomews London street atlas from 1930, but that is  no help.
> 
> The logical solution is a visit to the Minet Archives to consult Kelly's etc.



On 'Old Maps', you need to select one of the old maps that get linked on the left.  

"PW" for "place of worship" is on the current day mapping - it's a relatively recent abbreviation used on maps to cover churches and also buildings such as mosques, synagogues and so on (I don't remember it appearing on maps when i did geography at school which was - oh heck - about 30 years ago)

The 1951 1 : 1,250 map shows individual buildings, and shows the (then) Christian Science Church by name, then two detached buildings at 14 and 12, then 10A, then 10 shown as 'PO' then 8 then (un-numbered) Bank (now Unison office, numbered 6A), then 6, 4a, then what looks like a covered passage-way, then 4 and 2


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## Onket (Dec 14, 2014)

Presumably an older building used to be where Acre House is now?


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## Rushy (Dec 14, 2014)

Onket said:


> Presumably an older building used to be where Acre House is now?


Site of one of Lambeth's most fatal ww2 bomb strikes.


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## boohoo (Dec 14, 2014)

Onket said:


> Presumably an older building used to be where Acre House is now?



http://maps.google.com/gallery/details?id=zs2aHyi7W8Ek.kggHTef2F49I&hl=en
Map seems to imply that it was the site of Brixton Hall.


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## SarfLondoner (Dec 14, 2014)

Electric avenue 1960's


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## SarfLondoner (Dec 14, 2014)

An interesting read about the indoor markets,

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-504957-brixton-markets-reliance-arcade-market-r


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## thatguyhex (Dec 17, 2014)

"The first built was the Reliance Arcade, built in 1925-6 on the site of a large C19 house occupying a long plot of land (bizarrely, the shell of the house was retained and straddles the centre of the arcade)."

Mind = blown.


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## Onket (Dec 17, 2014)

That bit in the middle that looks like two pitched roofs next to each other? 

Can it be seen inside at all?


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## editor (Dec 19, 2014)

thatguyhex said:


> "The first built was the Reliance Arcade, built in 1925-6 on the site of a large C19 house occupying a long plot of land (bizarrely, the shell of the house was retained and straddles the centre of the arcade)."
> 
> Mind = blown.
> 
> View attachment 65180


I wrote a fairly large feature on Reliance Arcade recently: http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/10/...s-added-to-the-english-heritage-at-risk-list/

And here's a bit more of my obsessive historical research!






Brixton history: The Black Horse, Quin & Axtens and a tram on Brixton Road


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## thatguyhex (Dec 19, 2014)

editor said:


> I wrote a fairly large feature on Reliance Arcade recently: http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/10/...s-added-to-the-english-heritage-at-risk-list/


Good job! I missed seeing that.


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## calno4 (Dec 21, 2014)

Reveley Fish Salesman and Ice Merchant of 148 Acre Lane


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## uk benzo (Dec 21, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 65367
> Reveley Fish Salesman and Ice Merchant of 48 Acre Lane



What's a bloater!!?!??!

And love the Mirror headline "Surrey team practise at the Oval. Photographs". Exciting stuff! hahahaha.


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## calno4 (Dec 21, 2014)

boohoo said:


> MsEyeson Thanks so much for this. The top video clip has the man who danced in the arcades a very clear child hood memory for me.


I cant watch the video as it keeps crashing. My brother sent me this photo some time ago. Is it the same man?


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## calno4 (Dec 21, 2014)

SarfLondoner said:


> I believe it was opposite the town hall and was bombed in 1944.


Heres the interior damage to that Post Office, see post 345


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## calno4 (Dec 22, 2014)

Brian Barnes painting “Nuclear Dawn” in 1980  
http://endoplasm.org/my-morning-with-brian/


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## calno4 (Dec 22, 2014)

Nuclear Dawn Mural in the making


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## calno4 (Dec 22, 2014)

Stall Stories - A History of Brixton Market by Stockwell School


I enjoyed it, lots of interviews with the traders


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## RoyReed (Dec 22, 2014)

uk benzo said:


> What's a bloater!!?!??!


Bloaters are salted and cold-smoked herrings.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 25, 2014)

while trying to find something, encountered these sets by 'smudge33' on flickr - stockwell road (1960s?), Brixton 1972 / 3

(being flickr, difficult to embed an image here)


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## calno4 (Dec 29, 2014)

Atlantic Road, a postcard seen for sale on Ebay

 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rp15277-A...Collectables_Postcards_MJ&hash=item540eb3db2a


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## calno4 (Dec 29, 2014)

The Loughborough Junction Welfare Clinic. Opened April 10 1918. It was on the corner of Sussex Road and Loughborough Park. It used to be the Sussex Arms Public House. Photo is 1923, the news article is April 20 1918. Not sure when it closed but it was still going in the mid fifties.



Bit more about Sisters Olive and French here, Olive had conducted over 10,000 labours! http://rcnarchive.rcn.org.uk/data/VOLUME060-1918/page105-volume60-9thfebruary1918.pdf


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## calno4 (Dec 29, 2014)

The grounds of the Sussex Arms must have a whole lot bigger once upon a time
 
South London Chronicle October 01, 1870


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## editor (Dec 29, 2014)

calno4 said:


> The grounds of the Sussex Arms must have a whole lot bigger once upon a time
> View attachment 65731
> South London Chronicle October 01, 1870



It's been hard to track down photos of that's pub. I did a feature here: 






http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/coldharbour6.html


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## calno4 (Dec 29, 2014)

Yes, I think this is the only photo I have seen of it, yet it the Sussex Arms as far back as 1855, I shall keep looking.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 29, 2014)

> lawn billiards





more info here for those who can't be bothered to search

does urban need a lawn billiards league?


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## CH1 (Dec 30, 2014)

calno4 said:


> Atlantic Road, a postcard seen for sale on Ebay
> 
> View attachment 65726
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rp15277-A...Collectables_Postcards_MJ&hash=item540eb3db2a


Nice find. Presumably this is Edwardian and pre-dates the arcades. There is certainly no sign of Market Row or the Granville Arcade Atlantic Rd entrance unless my reading of the perspective is wrong.


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## calno4 (Dec 30, 2014)

CH1 said:


> Nice find. Presumably this is Edwardian and pre-dates the arcades. There is certainly no sign of Market Row or the Granville Arcade Atlantic Rd entrance unless my reading of the perspective is wrong.



It wasn´t dated, I thought the entrance to arcade on right was maybe about underneath "Woody" with the white canopy..edited ..No it wouldnt be, just remembered Granville arcade was built much later, so used to seeing it I automatically looked for it! 
A Danish matinee idol called Carl Brisson was the star attraction at the opening of The Graville in 1937. He starred in some of the Hitchcock silent movies.


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## calno4 (Dec 30, 2014)

Carl Brisson, he reminds me of Gene Wilder


----------



## calno4 (Dec 30, 2014)

I wonder if this is the same Mr Graville Grossman who developed the Granville arcade..
 
Dundee Evening Telegraph 04 September 1943


----------



## boohoo (Dec 30, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 65380
> Brian Barnes painting “Nuclear Dawn” in 1980
> http://endoplasm.org/my-morning-with-brian/



It's a good interview.  The picture was for French Vogue.


----------



## boohoo (Dec 30, 2014)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 65383
> Nuclear Dawn Mural in the making


Someone on here has these originals (or had....) - Brian said he can't remember painting this figure - probably because he didn't!


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## calno4 (Dec 30, 2014)

The houses that used to be next to Carlton Mansions. 1968 first one, dont know date of the other one


----------



## editor (Dec 31, 2014)

calno4 said:


> The houses that used to be next to Carlton Mansions. 1968 first one, dont know date of the other one
> View attachment 65766
> View attachment 65767


Could you add the sources, please? I'd love to update some of my history features with these pics but need to be able to credit the source.


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## MsEyeson (Jan 3, 2015)

I went to Ashby Mill Primary School in the 90's - Did anyone on here go there on Lyham Road? 
Cant seem to find any other old photos of it only of the exterior which is obviously now flats.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 4, 2015)

MsEyeson said:


> I went to Ashby Mill Primary School in the 90's - Did anyone on here go there on Lyham Road?
> Cant seem to find any other old photos of it only of the exterior which is obviously now flats.


I did a sponsored swim in the swimming pool around 1994. There was an SLP photo of the pool and swimmers - but not related to the school really.


----------



## editor (Jan 11, 2015)

Got asked this question.. any ideas? 



> I am looking for information 1933, 218 brixton hill I know it was a
> paper and sweet shop, my uncle run it and he used to collect a all the
> comics and we had a job to get into the shop sometimes, before it was
> a paper shop it was a florist this would be before the war. As I have
> ...


----------



## boohoo (Jan 11, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> while trying to find something, encountered these sets by 'smudge33' on flickr - stockwell road (1960s?), Brixton 1972 / 3
> 
> (being flickr, difficult to embed an image here)



Some great pics - much of it now demolished though there is one pic with a building which I remember in it.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 13, 2015)

from tweeter today


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 13, 2015)

followed by


----------



## editor (Jan 20, 2015)

So, British Home Stores began in Brixton!






http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/01/born-in-brixton-british-home-stores-department-chain-store/


----------



## RoyReed (Jan 21, 2015)

Some great photos of Brixton in the English Heritage archive.




*Caption:* People shopping at twilight at the street market in Electric Avenue, Brixton, taken from under one of the ornate ironwork canopies and looking towards the railway bridges crossing Atlantic Road 
*Photographer:* John Gay *Date Taken:* Jan 1962 - May 1964 




*Caption:* A street view at twilight looking south-east under the railway bridge on Atlantic Road, Brixton, by the covered steps up to Brixton Station, with people approaching on the pavement to right and a No. 2 double decker bus going the other way. 
*Photographer:* John Gay *Date Taken:* Jan 1962 - May 1964


----------



## teuchter (Jan 21, 2015)

^ At some point that entire upper railway bridge deck has obviously been replaced (with a much uglier one). That must have been quite a major operation. I wonder if there are any photos of that happening.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 21, 2015)

teuchter said:


> ^ At some point that entire upper railway bridge deck has obviously been replaced (with a much uglier one). That must have been quite a major operation. I wonder if there are any photos of that happening.
> View attachment 66663


That happened around 1986 as part of the Eurostar project. The bridges at Barrington Road and Loughborough Junction also got changed (maybe many more).

Not sure where you'd look to find what you are asking. Railway Construction Gazette? I doubt SLP would have got it. They would if a crane had dropped one of the concrete cross beams and killed someone of course.


----------



## teuchter (Jan 21, 2015)

CH1 said:


> That happened around 1986 as part of the Eurostar project. The bridges at Barrington Road and Loughborough Junction also got changed (maybe many more).



Ah, cheers. Surprised it would have been part of Eurostar works as the normal Eurostar route was via Herne Hill, not via the upper level tracks which go towards LJ/Denmark Hill.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 21, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Ah, cheers. Surprised it would have been part of Eurostar works as the normal Eurostar route was via Herne Hill, not via the upper level tracks which go towards LJ/Denmark Hill.


Not for freight - hadn't you noticed those Hanson aggregates wagons, not mention the car freighters etc that sometimes go by on the upper level line?

I presume it joins up with the bridge going to Willsden Junction etc. But I'm sure you know more about that than me.

I just spotted a Wikipedia article which might be of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole_depot


----------



## Tricky Skills (Jan 21, 2015)

Not quite Brixton, but I've been sent these photos of Dorset Road, SW8 from 1973. All of the shops have now been cleared. You don't want to romanticise what was probably a bloody awful time in which to live through, but there is a certain misty-eyed feeling from these pics.

Bloggage.


----------



## editor (Jan 21, 2015)

The railway bridge on Valentia Place appears to have been replaced some time after 1991 (although the Wiki article incorrectly identifies it as the site of East Brixton)


----------



## teuchter (Jan 21, 2015)

CH1 said:


> Not for freight - hadn't you noticed those Hanson aggregates wagons, not mention the car freighters etc that sometimes go by on the upper level line?
> 
> I presume it joins up with the bridge going to Willsden Junction etc. But I'm sure you know more about that than me.
> 
> I just spotted a Wikipedia article which might be of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole_depot



I'm well aware of the freight as I watch it go right past my place, and keep quite a close track on it. It's partly because it's a major freight route that I'm surpised it would be strengthened for Eurostar - I'm fairly sure the Eurostar trains are pretty light in comparison.

You're right that much of it goes on via Willesden Junction (via Olympia and Shepherds Bush). It's the main freight route through south London and pretty much anything from Kent or from the Channel Tunnel goes along it. And shipping containers from Thamesport but sadly that traffic ceased a couple of years ago and it looks like it might not return.

I remember North Pole depot being in action - you could see Eurostars running through Shepherds Bush etc to get between it and Waterloo.

Apparently Kensington Olympia was identified as an alternative terminus for the Eurostar trains should there be some kind of emergency that closed Waterloo.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 22, 2015)

teuchter said:


> I'm well aware of the freight as I watch it go right past my place, and keep quite a close track on it. It's partly because it's a major freight route that I'm surpised it would be strengthened for Eurostar - I'm fairly sure the Eurostar trains are pretty light in comparison.
> 
> You're right that much of it goes on via Willesden Junction (via Olympia and Shepherds Bush). It's the main freight route through south London and pretty much anything from Kent or from the Channel Tunnel goes along it. And shipping containers from Thamesport but sadly that traffic ceased a couple of years ago and it looks like it might not return.
> 
> Apparently Kensington Olympia was identified as an alternative terminus for the Eurostar trains should there be some kind of emergency that closed Waterloo.


You seem to be the railway expert - I am just trying to be helpful.

Eurotunnel stats for 2013 seem to indicate a significant number of freight services in addition to Le Shuttles passenger services.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...K-Regulatory-Announcement-Groupe#.UwZZtYXYNnQ
Why would you think that our heavy duty trans-Brixton freight trains are going elsewhere?


----------



## teuchter (Jan 22, 2015)

CH1 said:


> I am just trying to be helpful.



Sure - sorry if it sounded like I was suggesting otherwise!



CH1 said:


> Eurotunnel stats for 2013 seem to indicate a significant number of freight services in addition to Le Shuttles passenger services.
> http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...K-Regulatory-Announcement-Groupe#.UwZZtYXYNnQ
> Why would you think that our heavy duty trans-Brixton freight trains are going elsewhere?



Not quite sure what you mean.

The aggregate trains that pass through Brixton don't go to the tunnel - they are all domestic. They are to/from ship offloading points along the Thames estuary, quarries/gravel pits, and construction material depots around London.

If you see container trains or covered wagons then some of those are to/from the Tunnel and destinations beyond including Italy and Germany. Some of them carry steel or aluminium (on the British side they originate in places like Scunthorpe and South Wales), some of them carry fruit and other perishables. There's one from France that's entirely full of Evian bottled water.

The Channel Tunnel is actually under-utilised for freight trains (other than the Euroshuttle trains which carry road lorries). It has quite a lot of spare capacity. The last 5-10 years the number of freight trains through the Tunnel has been rather low but it seems to be on a gradual increase at the moment. There are now some that use HS1 to get directly to a depot in East London (the wider loading guage means that they can convey full-size European wagons which won't fit on the rest of the UK network). Those ones don't pass through south London at all.

The shuttles that carry lorries (competing directly with cross channel ferries) are doing good business and they've just ordered new trains to increase the frequency. That's all very well but really what we want is an increase in proper long distance freight trains through the tunnel. The lorry-carrying trains just dump the lorries at either end to carry on with their high-pollution journeys.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 22, 2015)

editor said:


> The railway bridge on Valentia Place appears to have been replaced some time after 1991 (although the Wiki article incorrectly identifies it as the site of East Brixton)
> View attachment 66675
> View attachment 66676


It seems that Eurostar was inaugurated 6th May 1994 (from Waterloo).
I would suggest then that the bridges were changed between 1991 and 1994.
In any event it was very disruptive, but well planned.
They closed Coldharbour Lane, Valentia Place and Brixton Road for a weekend each (not at the same time) and had massive cranes to lift the steel and concrete into position.
If it had happened 10 years later no doubt on-line pictures would have surfaced by now.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 22, 2015)

teuchter said:


> If you see container trains or covered wagons then some of those are to/from the Tunnel and destinations beyond including Italy and Germany. Some of them carry steel or aluminium (on the British side they originate in places like Scunthorpe and South Wales), some of them carry fruit and other perishables. There's one from France that's entirely full of Evian bottled water.


I do recall some local group campaigning against excessive rail freight on this route due to excessive noise and vibration. My near neighbour at that time was involved and had Railtrack as it was then doing noise measurements etc but they concluded in the end that there was not enough disturbance to anything about it - ore give any compensation.

I think this was in the SLP and questions were being asked about why this freight could not go outside London via Redhill.

Nuclear waste was part of the argument of course - Lambeth being a "Nuclear Free Zone" (is it still?)


----------



## editor (Jan 22, 2015)

(((Nu-Brixton residents moving into lifestyle flats in Brady's)))


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## teuchter (Jan 22, 2015)

CH1 said:


> I do recall some local group campaigning against excessive rail freight on this route due to excessive noise and vibration. My near neighbour at that time was involved and had Railtrack as it was then doing noise measurements etc but they concluded in the end that there was not enough disturbance to anything about it - ore give any compensation.
> 
> I think this was in the SLP and questions were being asked about why this freight could not go outside London via Redhill.
> 
> Nuclear waste was part of the argument of course - Lambeth being a "Nuclear Free Zone" (is it still?)


The nuclear flask trains still come through.

Seems a bit silly to me, to start complaining about noise from freight trains living next to this line. It's been the case for decades! I think there is possibly a bit more vibration than there used to be, because trains are longer/heavier, but on the other hand more modern engines mean they are actually quite a bit quieter.

The reasons why the Redhill route can't be used (without very expensive work) instead are various and complex... there is a detailed explanation somewhere in a Network Rail report about it, which I read a while ago. It does seem a bit crazy that a main freight artery runs right through one of the most congested bits of London...but that's just the way history has destined it to be. I imagine at some point an outside-of-London route will be created, but not in the near future.

Anyway, I enjoying having the freight trains coming past, makes it feel like we're connected to other places and it kind of makes the metabolism of our industrial/post-industrial age visible, if you choose to look at it like that. For quite some time there were several trains a day that were just full of the spoil from Crossrail....makes you realise the scale of operations of that kind. Maybe some day I'll write an Alain de Botton style book about the South London Line, which no-one will read.


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## CH1 (Jan 22, 2015)

teuchter said:


> 1. Seems a bit silly to me, to start complaining about noise from freight trains living next to this line. It's been the case for decades! I think there is possibly a bit more vibration than there used to be, because trains are longer/heavier, but on the other hand more modern engines mean they are actually quite a bit quieter.
> 
> 2. Maybe some day I'll write an Alain de Botton style book about the South London Line, which no-one will read.


1.The deeds of these Coldharbour houses show the land originally belonged to the railway (between Barrington Road and the railway bridge over Coldharbour Lane near Control Tower/Ackee Tree minicabs)

Imagine what it must have been like with steam trains every few minutes! (Some of the properties were built "blind back" because of this).

2.I had a publication about "SOLTA" somewhere. Must dig it out and see what it says.


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## teuchter (Jan 22, 2015)

CH1 said:


> 1.The deeds of these Coldharbour houses show the land originally belonged to the railway (between Barrington Road and the railway bridge over Coldharbour Lane near Control Tower/Ackee Tree minicabs)
> 
> Imagine what it must have been like with steam trains every few minutes! (Some of the properties were built "blind back" because of this).
> 
> 2.I had a publication about "SOLTA" somewhere. Must dig it out and see what it says.



Yes, I like seeing the odd steam train passing but the pollution must have been terrible when they were going past all the time. The line was electrified quite early on though. Originally had overhead wires until they were replaced with the standard Southern 3rd rail. You can still see the bases of the old gantry towers attached to the side of the viaduct in places.

What's SOLTA?


----------



## CH1 (Jan 22, 2015)

teuchter said:


> What's SOLTA?


I think it meant South London Line Travelers Assocation.

Couldn't find the SOLTA report just now - but I did find a letter from Leslie Smith, Managing Director, Terminal Freight dated 21th July 1993. I am retyping ther last three paragraphs below. May be able to attach jpg later (I don't think Urban can load pdf)

Extract from Trainload Freight letter (capitalisation as original letter):

"I am sorry that residents have been disturbed by passing freight trains. Until last year our freight trains could not operate on the lines closest to you, known as the "Atlantic Lines", because of weight restrictions placed on the bridges along it then. These bridges have now been rebuilt and so the restrictions have been lifted. By routing freight trains over the "Atlantic Lines" we have been able to avoid congestion at Brixton and so operate the railway more efficiently.

The bridge strengthening work was primarily undertaken to permit the operation of freight trains to/from the Channel Tunnel over this route. We are however doing a number of things which should reduce the intrusiveness of both domestic and Channel Tunnel freight trains.

The wagons on Channel Tunnel freight trains will not have to be quite so heavy am axle load as the wagons used on domestic freight trains. So there should be less vibration caused by the Channel Tunnel freight trains. In addition the Channel Tunnel freight trains will be hauled by electric locomotives which are generally perceived to be quieter than diesels too.We are also replacing the existing jointed track with continuously welded rail. This will give all types of trains using these lines a much smoother ride and so reduce the vibration that is presently causing you nuisance."

It seems clear from all this that the bridges were strengthened/rebuilt in 1992. And that Channel Tunnel traffic was the precipitating cause - maybe primarily to "avoid congestion at Brixton", where of course the Eurostar passenger services weere coming through from Herne Hill mainly, as you said in your earlier post.


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## teuchter (Jan 23, 2015)

Amazing - a more thorough answer to my question than I could have expected. Cheers.


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## CH1 (Jan 23, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Amazing - a more thorough answer to my question than I could have expected. Cheers.


Here is the letter - the icing on the cake would have been if it was an original. The logo seems to be heraldic in nature and might have been fetching! 
 P.S. I haven't blanked the address as the lady in question died 20 years ago and her family moved.


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## teuchter (Jan 24, 2015)

The logo is from when they sectorised freight operations in British Rail. The different squares represented different sectors...coal, petroleum etc etc.


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## teuchter (Jan 24, 2015)




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## BigMoaner (Jan 24, 2015)

editor said:


> The railway bridge on Valentia Place appears to have been replaced some time after 1991 (although the Wiki article incorrectly identifies it as the site of East Brixton)
> 
> View attachment 66675
> 
> View attachment 66676


cracking place to get parts for vauxhalls just beyond the bridge.


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## editor (Jan 28, 2015)

I came across this lovely old sign recently:





The long lost Forest Hill Brewery lives on in Tintern Street, Brixton


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## oryx (Jan 28, 2015)

Nice sign - I keep meaning to visit the All In One in Forest Hill, practically on the border with Sydenham. It's meant to be quite decent.


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## Onket (Jan 28, 2015)

I walk past that most days to & from work. 

Thought about taking a picture but I thought that surely it must already be on here!


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## teuchter (Jan 28, 2015)

I don't think Tintern St is really in Brixton.


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## editor (Jan 28, 2015)

teuchter said:


> I don't think Tintern St is really in Brixton.


I'll go with Google on this one, not that it's particularly important. So long as people can locate it, that's all that matters really.


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## Winot (Jan 28, 2015)

Onket said:


> I walk past that most days to & from work.
> 
> Thought about taking a picture but I thought that surely it must already be on here!



Snap (on a bike). Will keep an eye out for you.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 28, 2015)

on tweeter today


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## CH1 (Jan 28, 2015)

teuchter said:


> I don't think Tintern St is really in Brixton.


Certainly is. It is Ferndale Ward. CORE Brixton.


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## teuchter (Jan 28, 2015)

Borderline Brixton/Clapham (if I'm being generous).


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## Onket (Jan 29, 2015)

Good morning 'Brixton'!


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## boohoo (Jan 29, 2015)

I took some nic pics of the tin tabanacle the other day. anyone know if they got the go ahead to pull it down?


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## SpamMisery (Jan 29, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Borderline Brixton/Clapham (if I'm being generous).



Where do you place the northern and western boundaries of Brixton? I would consider Tintern St to be Brixton but boundaries are always going to be a grey area and ripe for interpretation


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## technical (Jan 29, 2015)

At the risk of opening up a can of worms, in my opinion:

Western boundary would be Kings Avenue from the south circular up to Clapham North, then along Landor Road, Sidney Road and Robsart Street to Brixton Road. 

Southern boundary is clearly the South circular (at least as far as the High Trees estate) - eastern boundary is less clear cut really. Suppose you'd need to include Brockwell Park, but then maybe along Shakespeare Road until Coldharbour Lane, then Loughbourough Road back round to Brixton Rd?


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## boohoo (Jan 29, 2015)

technical said:


> At the risk of opening up a can of worms, in my opinion:
> 
> Western boundary would be Kings Avenue from the south circular up to Clapham North, then along Landor Road, Sidney Road and Robsart Street to Brixton Road.



Slicing through the heart of old Stockwell with the possibility of putting my parents house (where I grew up) just outside of Brixton. Do you slice straight down the middle of the road?


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## boohoo (Jan 29, 2015)

Onket are you trying to get a pic on every thread?


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## SpamMisery (Jan 29, 2015)

Guess it depends on whether you distinguish Herne Hill and Tulse Hill from Brixton. I do and therefore dont think of the park as being Brixton; and the south circular is practically a different country to me it's so far away.

Anyway, we should probably can this discussion or move it to a different thread


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## teuchter (Jan 29, 2015)

SpamMisery said:


> Where do you place the northern and western boundaries of Brixton? I would consider Tintern St to be Brixton but boundaries are always going to be a grey area and ripe for interpretation


I would mark a point halfway between Brixton station and Stockwell station, and another one halfway between Clapham North station and Brixton station. Then draw a line or maybe arc between them. Looks like this would slice through Tintern St.

My other measure is based upon when I have been looking for rooms in houseshares. It was noticeable that you didn't have to go all that far towards Clapham north in the bit between Acre Lane and the railway line, before the households/people became sort of more Clapham-orientated. And you can't get much more scientific than that.

Also even the Prince of Wales on Ferndale Rd has always seemed quite Clapham-y to me.

All this was a few years ago though and is fairly irrelevant now that Brixton has fairly much become the Clapham that we despised.


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## SpamMisery (Jan 29, 2015)

Like you I usually use the tube stations for creating boundaries (hence the south circular being a different country to me)


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## boohoo (Jan 29, 2015)

I define the boundaries by what they were when I was a kid. Brockwell Park is not Brixton. Neither is Herne Hill or Tulse Hill


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## Winot (Jan 29, 2015)

boohoo said:


> I took some nic pics of the tin tabanacle the other day. anyone know if they got the go ahead to pull it down?



Do you mean the one on Hetherington Rd near the GPs?  I think it's staying but I could be out of date.


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## Onket (Jan 29, 2015)

boohoo said:


> Onket are you trying to get a pic on every thread?


I'm not far off 9,000 alerts. And 10,000 is only a hop away from that.


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## boohoo (Jan 29, 2015)

Winot said:


> Do you mean the one on Hetherington Rd near the GPs?  I think it's staying but I could be out of date.



That's the one. Nice to see we still have a tin tabernacle in the area.


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## Crispy (Jan 29, 2015)

technical said:


> At the risk of opening up a can of worms


That can was opened years ago and the worms are everywhere


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## editor (Feb 6, 2015)

Latest set: Brixton ten years ago – helicopter, Brockwell park snow, Hamilton Arms and the Dogstar, February 2005


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## Mrs Redboots (Feb 6, 2015)

MsEyeson said:


> I went to Ashby Mill Primary School in the 90's - Did anyone on here go there on Lyham Road?
> Cant seem to find any other old photos of it only of the exterior which is obviously now flats.



My daughter was there in the 1980s; I don't think we have any old photos, only a scan of a newspaper article when one of her trips was cancelled as the coach company decided they could make more money out of a rail strike.


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## editor (Feb 7, 2015)

Piece about the ghost sign of Electric Lane






http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/02/ghost-signs-of-brixton-our-sons-menswear-electric-avenue/


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## editor (Feb 10, 2015)

Nice bit of period detail here;


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## SpamMisery (Feb 10, 2015)

The queue for M&S looks pretty fierce


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## billythefish (Feb 10, 2015)

editor said:


> Nice bit of period detail here;
> 
> View attachment 67478


When I was a kid I used to think those street lamps looked like pelicans.


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## leanderman (Feb 10, 2015)

SpamMisery said:


> The queue for M&S looks pretty fierce



They're queueing for the FINE SELECTION OF ALL FOREIGN WINES


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## editor (Feb 10, 2015)

Dunn & Co has some splendid windows.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 10, 2015)

editor said:


> Dunn & Co has some splendid windows.



Had my first job interview in there and I've always regretted turning them down.


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## editor (Feb 13, 2015)

Some pics from 2001, including the bottom slapping cop car:











http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/02/...-a-busy-market-brixton-history-from-feb-2001/


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## SarfLondoner (Feb 18, 2015)

Atlantic Road.1950.


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## SarfLondoner (Feb 18, 2015)




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## SarfLondoner (Feb 18, 2015)




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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 18, 2015)

SarfLondoner said:


> View attachment 67857



 at The Times Furnishing Co - wonder how many people thought they were part of a certain  newspaper...  I guess the typeface must be subtly different enough to just avoid getting sued...


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## SarfLondoner (Feb 18, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> at The Times Furnishing Co - wonder how many people thought they were part of a certain  newspaper...  I guess the typeface must be subtly different enough to just avoid getting sued...


Indeed, I reckon lawyers would be involved if that happened nowadays.


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## SarfLondoner (Feb 18, 2015)

SpamMisery said:


> The queue for M&S looks pretty fierce


I vaguely remember the pavement being much narrower than it is now, Could be wrong mind!


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## friendofdorothy (Feb 20, 2015)

SarfLondoner said:


> View attachment 67857



I like the way the whole junction seems clear of signs, road marking and 'street furniture' it looks so much more tidy than now.


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## friendofdorothy (Feb 20, 2015)

SarfLondoner said:


> I vaguely remember the pavement being much narrower than it is now, Could be wrong mind!


Looks like the railings made it a bit narrower. I think the widened all the pavements along the high street when they redid then all a few years ago.


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## editor (Mar 2, 2015)

A little feature: 
Local history: the bombed and broken Tinworth Fountain in Kennington Park


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## RoyReed (Mar 2, 2015)

editor said:


> A little feature:
> Local history: the bombed and broken Tinworth Fountain in Kennington Park


I love the close-up detail you've got of the base:





It reminds me of the amazing Doulton tiles in the lobby of the Lloyds Bank on the Strand.


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## editor (Mar 3, 2015)

Here's another of my features on obscure footnotes from Brixton's history: 






Brixton history: Robinson’s Teeth Institute and Parke’s Drug Stores of Electric Avenue


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## SpamMisery (Mar 3, 2015)

editor said:


>



Terrible they allowed an 'iconic Electric Avenue building be turned into an advertising billboard'. I feel sure they will have damaged the brickwork


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## editor (Mar 3, 2015)

SpamMisery said:


> Terrible they allowed an 'iconic Electric Avenue building be turned into an advertising billboard'. I feel sure they will have damaged the brickwork








Slight difference, sunshine.

Besides, that was then, this is now (or at least was before they moved it to completely cover up the Art Deco façade of the old Woolies building).


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## Crispy (Mar 4, 2015)

From Feb's chat thread:




			
				Casaubon said:
			
		

> There’s been various mentions of WWII bomb damage in Brixton, but has anyone mentioned WWI bombing by Zeppelins?
> 
> 
> 
> ...




https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4xVywBr3RmFyS7q_qx0akQ!2e0

I'm pretty sure these are either 47 and 49 or some even-numbered houses on the other side of the road (hard to pick them out on streetview) on Baytree Road, rebuilt with flat-walled bay windows instead of the arc shape that all the others have.


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## editor (Mar 11, 2015)

Brixton ten years ago:

















http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/03/...vis-sign-and-herne-hill-velodrome-march-2005/


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## CH1 (Mar 12, 2015)

editor said:


> Brixton ten years ago:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Despite the grand resurfacing of Coldharbour Lane in 2005 we are still waiting for the repaving. I have been here nearly 30 years and nothing doing yet. Just proves how unlitigious we are round here. Those "Have you had an accident which wasn't your fault" phone lines might find customers down Coldharbour Lane.


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## Casaubon (Mar 15, 2015)

In the early 80s my local was the George Canning (a.k.a. Hobgoblin, Hootananny). It was a real landmark, featured on the destination boards of the 159.
This photo’s from ’84 (or maybe ’85).

 


The landlord was Gordon Petrie, a very imposing Guyanan. He was a big bloke, with a classic ‘strongman’ physique, trim waist and huge chest and shoulders. If anyone was daft enough to pick a fight with him he’d pick them up one-handed and toss them aside. I think he’d been brought in to ‘tame’ the Canning.
For all his physical prowess, unless severely provoked he was a very unassuming, softly-spoken, modest and retiring bloke.

From the 50s to the 70s he was a professional wrestler. Sometimes he fought under his real name, usually as Prince Kumali, but also as Big Brutus, Great Malumba, Lawrence Liger, Giant Zulu Warrior and others. 
He fought in the biggest venues worldwide, including the Royal Albert Hall, and on Saturday afternoon televised wrestling.

He died in January this year.
Biography - http://www.wrestlingheritage.co.uk/kkostas.htm


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## editor (Mar 16, 2015)

Here's a fairly comprehensive new piece I've spent untold hours researching!






Brixton History: over 120 years of the Brixton Tate Library in photos


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## editor (Mar 23, 2015)

Another history feature: 











Brixton history: 110 years of Atlantic Road – Pococks, padded cells and David Greig


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## editor (Mar 24, 2015)

Another piece of obscure local history for you all:
The curious case of the Edwardian couple cuddling on the top of Brixton Hill


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## GarveyLives (Apr 5, 2015)

Casaubon said:


> In the early 80s my local was the George Canning (a.k.a. Hobgoblin, Hootananny). It was a real landmark, featured on the destination boards of the 159.
> This photo’s from ’84 (or maybe ’85).
> 
> View attachment 68858
> ...




The George Canning is more likely to have featured on the destination boards of the 2A and / or 2B (which stopped 50 metres away) than the 159 which ran up and down Brixton Hill five minutes walk away.  it certainly gave its name to the first bus stop on Tulse Hill, which is now known as "Brixton Water Lane".

Sad to hear of the passing of the landlord, Gordon Petrie.   He would have been a well-known figure in the local community.  Was there any mention in the local press?


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## CH1 (Apr 5, 2015)

GarveyLives said:


> The George Canning is more likely to have featured on the destination boards of the 2A and / or 2B (which stopped 50 metres away) than the 159 which ran up and down Brixton Hill five minutes walk away.  it certainly gave its name to the first bus stop on Tulse Hill, which is now known as "Brixton Water Lane".
> 
> Sad to hear of the passing of the landlord, Gordon Petrie.   He would have been a well-known figure in the local community.  Was there any mention in the local press?


I'm sure I saw "George Canning" on the number 3 a lot - sometimes the 3 even "turned" at the George Canning (I think it came down from Camden in those days - or maybe even Chalk Farm. No Googleable evidence though).


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## thatguyhex (Apr 6, 2015)

My new obsession is collecting 78s. Here's one I got today.


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## CH1 (Apr 7, 2015)

Casaubon said:


> The landlord was Gordon Petrie, a very imposing Guyanan. He was a big bloke, with a classic ‘strongman’ physique, trim waist and huge chest and shoulders. From the 50s to the 70s he was a professional wrestler.He died in January this year.
> Biography - http://www.wrestlingheritage.co.uk/kkostas.htm
> View attachment 68859
> View attachment 68860


I managed to find and upload this Kenny Everett sketch from around 1980 or 81 where Kenny manages throw 4 wrestlers - including Gordon Petrie/Prince Kumali.


----------



## Dexter Deadwood (May 19, 2015)




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## editor (May 20, 2015)

Brixton ten years ago: 











The long-lost Queen in Bellefields Road. 

Brixton Ten Years Ago: Crack City, Jacaranda Gardens and the old Queen’s pub, May 2005


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## Puddy_Tat (Jun 12, 2015)

on tweeter today


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## editor (Jun 22, 2015)

Fabulous set of 80s pics here: 
















https://www.facebook.com/TheGreatBrixtonProject


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## CH1 (Jun 23, 2015)

editor said:


> Fabulous set of 80s pics here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I remember Tescos in Popes Road - but can't place this camera angle. I'm wondering if it is Brixton Station Road - maybe Tescos had the corner arch space?


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## editor (Jun 30, 2015)

A piece about Brixton Road:






*Brixton history: a busy Edwardian scene on Brixton Road*


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## editor (Jul 6, 2015)

I like this pre-1914 photo of the corner of Brixton Road and Coldharbour Road. 

 

Note the cabs lined up on the corner and what looks like public conveniences by the junction.


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## editor (Jul 10, 2015)

Just posted a feature on the long lost Brockwell Park bandstand. 






http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/07/...rockwell-park-bandstand-in-archive-postcards/


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## SpamMisery (Jul 10, 2015)

Looks like mother nature reclaimed it!


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## teuchter (Jul 14, 2015)

Maybe a bit "niche" but if you watch from about 9 mins in, you can see a train driver's view passing through Brixton (then Loughborough Junction, Denmark Hill and Peckham) in 1999:


----------



## boohoo (Jul 17, 2015)

editor said:


> Just posted a feature on the long lost Brockwell Park bandstand.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



And the bandstand featured in the Mauleverer Road mural


----------



## CH1 (Jul 17, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Maybe a bit "niche" but if you watch from about 9 mins in, you can see a train driver's view passing through Brixton (then Loughborough Junction, Denmark Hill and Peckham) in 1999:



Certainly is niche - almost as mesmerising as a Philip Glass opera (123 12 12 12345 etc)

I was amazed at how bendy the track is. Throws more light on Network Rail's excuse for not progressing a Brixton interchange. Wonder how safe all those nuclear waste flagons are passing during the night - especially now they have dispensed with guards and guards vans on heavy goods trains.

My own little niche is this  - I was fascinated by what appear to be electrical sub stations at Nunhead Junction and between Ravensbourne and Shortands. These are similar in style to the one at Loughborough Junction by the scrap yard. Would they all be contemporaneous?

Is the film for training purposes - like a flight simulator sort of thing, or just for fun?


----------



## cuppa tee (Jul 22, 2015)

!982


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## teuchter (Jul 22, 2015)

CH1 said:


> Certainly is niche - almost as mesmerising as a Philip Glass opera (123 12 12 12345 etc)
> 
> I was amazed at how bendy the track is. Throws more light on Network Rail's excuse for not progressing a Brixton interchange. Wonder how safe all those nuclear waste flagons are passing during the night - especially now they have dispensed with guards and guards vans on heavy goods trains.
> 
> ...


Yes, I have noticed the substations. Not sure when they date from. The line from Victoria to London Bridge through Brixton and Denmark Hill was the first in the UK (I think) to be electrified, around 1905. For that scheme they had overhead wires. Then in the 20s it was converted to "third rail" which became the standard for the south of england, so substations could also date from around then.

There are not many nuclear flasks coming past now. 5 years ago there would often be a couple of trains a week. More recently it seems to be a train only every couple of weeks, and usually just carrying one flask wagon (I think maybe because one half of Dungeness PS has been shut down now). They are designed to stay intact in a high speed collision so I doubt a guard's van would make any difference in the kind of accident. In any case guard's vans are redundant on modern freight trains as they have failsafe braking.

Not sure what the video was for. Maybe just for fun. Although they do sometimes make route-learning videos I think.


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## T & P (Jul 22, 2015)

cuppa tee said:


> !982



Wow. Loads of empty shops along the Front Line, and massive plots of boarded up land along Railton Road. How has the area changed (and yet in other ways remained the same),


----------



## friendofdorothy (Jul 22, 2015)

T & P said:


> Wow. Loads of empty shops along the Front Line, and massive plots of boarded up land along Railton Road. How has the area changed (and yet in other ways remained the same),


apart from the health centre and new flats on one side of railton I recall it looked pretty much the same in the early 90s. 
Nice to see the anarchist squat (was that 121?) was there then - I remember going to vegan lesbian nights there in mid '80s. More boring flats now, shame.


----------



## editor (Jul 23, 2015)

Love this video:



The Great Fire of Brixton Morleys, August 1910 – photos and video


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## editor (Jul 31, 2015)

Loving this late 60s/early 70s (I'm guessing) slide from eBay.


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## T & P (Jul 31, 2015)

'Dunn & Co'... is that present-day Iceland?


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## uk benzo (Jul 31, 2015)

T & P said:


> 'Dunn & Co'... is that present-day Iceland?



I think that's the taxi rank at the corner of Atlantic road.


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## editor (Jul 31, 2015)

T & P said:


> 'Dunn & Co'... is that present-day Iceland?


There's no shops there at all now as the building lime went back after (IIRC) Dunns got burnt down in the riots


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## editor (Jul 31, 2015)

Here's another bit of Brixton history:






Brixton history: Teeth for Sale and Electric Light Studios in Brixton Road


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## editor (Aug 2, 2015)

Nice old scene from 1964


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 2, 2015)

editor said:


> View attachment 74710
> 
> Loving this late 60s/early 70s (I'm guessing) slide from eBay.



Looks like a Citroen DS estate (white car driving away from the photographer) -  

Routemasters first appeared on the 2B in 1966, and their combination of grey (not white) band round the middle, and absence of the white LT logo on the side would also say late 60s / early 70s

If you can make out (at higher resolution) the registration number of the bus, I may be able to trace when it was at a garage that did the 2B


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## editor (Aug 11, 2015)

It's a bit obscure, but this is the sort of thing I like writing about!

*obsessed






Brixton history: Dan Davies Special Eye Bath, 324 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton


----------



## editor (Aug 11, 2015)

Photo op for the Camberwell Palace Of Varities


----------



## editor (Aug 11, 2015)

Vintage advertising postcard for Leander Road.


----------



## CH1 (Aug 11, 2015)

editor said:


> It's a bit obscure, but this is the sort of thing I like writing about!
> 
> *obsessed
> 
> ...


Up until it closed in 2002 Dan Davies still operated like a old-style shop, taking orders out to customers by van if required.
I believe they had an offer they couldn't refuse from a chain who wanted to use their pharmacy licence for a shop on Brixton Hill.


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 16, 2015)

on tweeter today


----------



## leanderman (Aug 16, 2015)

Just came across this in Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage (1915):

'She got them furs at the Bon Marche at Brixton. I saw them in the window the last time I went down there [from Herne Hill].
'And I said to my aunt, I wouldn't buy anything in the window like that, for everyone to know how much you paid for it.'


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## teuchter (Aug 18, 2015)

> http://historicengland.org.uk/news-and-features/news/help-needed-post-war-pubs
> 
> If you know of any post-war pubs in your area we would like to hear from you.
> 
> ...



Seems like a worthwhile project and I might email them. Hero of Switzerland comes to mind. Any others?


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## editor (Aug 18, 2015)

Another history feature: 






Brixton History: handcarts, hats and busy scenes on Atlantic Road


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## brixtonblade (Aug 18, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Seems like a worthwhile project and I might email them. Hero of Switzerland comes to mind. Any others?


Windmill? 

What was that other one round LJ... Robin Hood? Or is that now flats?


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## teuchter (Aug 18, 2015)

Ah yes, Windmill is an obvious one.


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## brixtonblade (Aug 18, 2015)

Mango landing and harmony bar

Oh, wait...


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## teuchter (Aug 18, 2015)

They are interested in ones that have been demolished too.


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## Rushy (Aug 18, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Seems like a worthwhile project and I might email them. Hero of Switzerland comes to mind. Any others?


Windmill.

ETA doh.


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## Rushy (Aug 18, 2015)

Hop Poles, Upper Tulse Hill.
Now flats.


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## T & P (Aug 18, 2015)

Rushy said:


> Hop Poles, Upper Tulse Hill.
> Now flats.


I don't think many tears were shed over that one tbh... Not that I agree with the principle.


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## teuchter (Aug 18, 2015)

Was the Mango Landing building originally built as a pub by the way?


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## editor (Aug 18, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Was the Mango Landing building originally built as a pub by the way?


It was originally The Hope. 






http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/05/...ushka-remembered-in-wonderful-archive-photos/


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## ringo (Aug 21, 2015)

brixtonblade said:


> Windmill?
> 
> What was that other one round LJ... Robin Hood? Or is that now flats?



Robin Hood & Little John has been demolished. New flats going up there now. It shut at least 5 years ago I think now.


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## editor (Sep 8, 2015)

Fine set of semaphores from 1949.


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 8, 2015)

new article today on 'another nickel in the machine' 

_David Hemmings, Blow-Up and the Red Buildings on the Stockwell Road_

here


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## teuchter (Sep 8, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> new article today on 'another nickel in the machine'
> 
> _David Hemmings, Blow-Up and the Red Buildings on the Stockwell Road_
> 
> here


Amazing - have seen that film a couple of times and had no idea that scene was filmed right where I lived for about five years - had a view of that stretch of Stockwell rd from my window.

You can recognise what's now the Queen's Head in the first couple of seconds of the clip.




And I still sometimes get my prescriptions from this pharmacy...


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## peterkro (Sep 8, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Amazing - have seen that film a couple of times and had no idea that scene was filmed right where I lived for about five years - had a view of that stretch of Stockwell rd from my window.
> 
> You can recognise what's now the Queen's Head in the first couple of seconds of the clip.
> 
> ...




When I first came to London I stayed for a bit in Tulse hill.I bought my bike from Pride and Clarke in those red buildings (Norton Commando Interstate 850[actually only 828]) they wouldn't insure me so I fucked off lived in Dublin for a couple of years then rode it to Pakistan and back via nord cap (no licence no insurance no fuck all) I have a very nostalgic view of those group of shops.


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## teuchter (Sep 9, 2015)

Looks like they had quite an empire going on there. Perhaps also explains why quite a few of the shop units are still knocked together or at least have the appearance of being so.


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## editor (Sep 9, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> new article today on 'another nickel in the machine'
> 
> _David Hemmings, Blow-Up and the Red Buildings on the Stockwell Road_
> 
> here


I posted up a big piece about Pride & Clark on here in July: 






Pride & King, former motorcycle retail empire in Stockwell Road, Brixton


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## Casaubon (Sep 11, 2015)

QUOTE="editor, post: 14099650, member: 22"]I posted up a big piece about Pride & Clark on here in July:






Pride & King, former motorcycle retail empire in Stockwell Road, Brixton[/QUOTE]

If I remember correctly, remnants of the Pride and Clarke empire persisted into the 80s. I think the last shop, which shut around '83, sold speedway bikes like these:



I don't think there's a single Speedway track left in London now.


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## Twattor (Sep 11, 2015)

Casaubon said:


> I don't think there's a single Speedway track left in London now.



Pretty much only in East Angular these days AFAIK


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## Jangleballix (Sep 12, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> new article today on 'another nickel in the machine'
> 
> _David Hemmings, Blow-Up and the Red Buildings on the Stockwell Road_
> 
> here


A new article you say? Over a year since the preceding one. Lovely blog but glacially slow. No, make that geologically slow.


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 12, 2015)

Jangleballix said:


> A new article you say? Over a year since the preceding one. Lovely blog but glacially slow. No, make that geologically slow.



yes - i think it's a side project for him now.  he's reasonably active on tweeter as @robnitm


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## editor (Sep 13, 2015)

I would have loved to have been able to see the Empress on a packed Saturday night. 

 


Empress Theatre, Brighton Terrace and Bernay's Grove, Carlton Grove, Brixton. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2


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## editor (Sep 17, 2015)

Brixton 15 years ago: 











Brixton history – street scenes from 15 years ago, Sept 2000


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## ringo (Oct 5, 2015)

Some background from reggae writer Penny Reel on the early life of the late Larry Lawrence, proprietor of My Fathers Place on Coldharbour Lane for many years and owner of the Ethnic Fight record label. Always a kind and generous soul whenever I knew him. 

Lord Briscoe: Mr Cleveland (King Edwards)

Raymond Headford, Larry Lawrence, Cleveland Lawrence, Rae Cheddie, Lloyd Briscoe and Earl George Lawrence are all young men from Rae Town, just east of downtown Kingston, Jamaica. All are members of a JLP posse called the Stingrays. The head of this nasty, little gang, Rae Conniff, is shot down and killed by a PNP enforcer named Bucky Lerner; apparently, a distant relation of Natty Bo, the beigel boy. Headford and the Lawrence family, the two brothers, Larry and Cleveland, together with their confident younger cousin, Earl George, are formerly members of a street gang called the Ethnics. Cheddie, Briscoe and Conniff are in the Fights gang. When these outfits meet together as friends and partners-in-crime, they consider calling themselves the Ethnic-Fights, but are dissuaded of the idea by Joe Higgs, so the Stingrays they become. However, it does give young Larry an idea. Yes, my dear.

Cleveland Lawrence is the joker in the pack. He always has a mad grin on his cheeky clock; which is not surprising, because he is mad. He is totally bonkers. Cleve wears a black beret on his head and begs cigarettes in Acklam Road, off Orange Street. He argues with Malachi and fights with Owen Brown on Portobello Green. He has a job as a plumber, an alcoholic plumber, and staggers about in a drunken haze.

Peel head John Crow sit ’pon the tree top; pick out the blossom. Let me hol’ yuh han’, gal; let me hol’ yuh han’.

Lloyd Briscoe, who sometimes calls himself Lord Briscoe, does not like Cleevy at all, at all. Rather unusually, he accuses Cleveland of having a heart like a bayonet. Nor has he much time for Earl George Lawrence, a better singer than he, though a lesser man. Yes, I. A true; a true! Every word me say, a true.

“Mr Cleveland and you Lawrence,” he declares. “Your smiling face is just a bait to seek intent from your heart like bayonet.”

Cleve, Larry and Earl George have a feud with two knife-wielding badmen named Doo Izah and also Westman the Same from Arnett Gardens, who are good spars of the man Bucky Lerner and his sidekick Barry Adler, Lilac Lou as he is known. Lilac Lou threatens people with a gun and steals their money and their herb up at Mellowmix in Stoke Newington. Lilac is a good friend of Maxi Priest and Ray Charles, Craig Charles’ brother. Maxi has a white bird in Manchester named Martha and a mixed race chick in Salford called Minnie Caldwell. His frequent trips to the suburbs of Manchester are how he becomes friendly with the Scouser, Raymond Charles. He also knows Freddie of Freddie And The Dreamers and Allan Clarke of the Hollies. Clarkey and he have a terrible fight one night with Paul Morley and Alan Erasmus at the Factory. Morley is hospitalised. It is the main reason why proud Paul relocates to the Smoke, London. Erasmus stays behind in Wythenshawe.

In the early 1960s, though, all these men are friends. Lilac Lou stays at the Lawrence house often and helps out on Rae Lawrence’s farm. He milks the cow and walks the dog.

Then Sir Donald Sangster dies and Hugh Shearer and Eddie Seaga rise to become the two most prominent politicians in the JLP. Both of these men are evil. Things and time will tell on them. Teeth and tongue will meet. Seen!
The brothers Larry and Cleveland flee Jamaica and resettle in London. Headford heads for Sligoville and hides out there. Rae Cheddie and Lloyd Barnes from the feared and fearsome Bullwackies gang leave for New York. Earl George Lawrence befriends Militant Barry and goes to live with him and Jah Woosh in Allman Town. Lord Briscoe is shot dead by Westman the Same. It is a chaotic time a Yard. Yes, my children.

Before his assassination in 1967, Lord Briscoe is a prolific singer in Jamaica. During a brief six month period in 1964, he records ten titles, six for Leslie Kong, which are released on his Beverley’s record label, and four for Vin Edwards’ King Edwards label, idiosyncratic tunes like the aforementioned ‘Mr Cleveland’, plus ‘Fabulous Eyes’, ‘Jonah (The Master)’, ‘Praise For I’, ‘Trojan’ and ‘Spiritual Mambo’, all of which are satisfactory, brisk ska-based music. Prior to this Earl George Lawrence cuts ‘Garden Of Eden’ for Mr. Kong, in 1963. Six years later, the Tuff Gong from Trench Town, Bob Marley, adapts this song as ‘Adam And Eve’. Earl George goes on to make dozens of records, including several for Lee Perry as George Faith.
And every one of us is living in sin.

‘Praise For I’ by Lord Briscoe for Beverley’s is another great ska disc. “The time has come for I,” he says. “You must look and open up your eyes, for the good is that you must abide.”

‘Troy is a nation and they all are named Trojan,” he chants on ‘Trojan’. “So, all my people must come and hear my sound. Listen when you hear my sound and tell it to your friends, who do not understand,”

On ‘Jonah (The Master)’, he leads his Trojan warriors, all orthodox, Haredi Jews from Hendon, to Nineveh, to warn the nation “Jonah, Jonah, where are you going?” they ask. “The master has sent me to warn the nation,” he replies. “We are going to Nineveh to warn.” At which point, Baba Brook soars in with an amazing trumpet solo.

The story of Jonah in the belly of a whale is one of the oddest accounts in the Bible. It begins with God speaking to Jonah, son of Amittai, and commanding him to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Jonah finds this edict unbearable. Not only is Nineveh known for its wickedness, but it is also the capital of the Assyrian Empire, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies.
Stubborn Jonah goes down to the seaport of Joppa and books his passage on a ship to Tarshish, heading directly away from Nineveh. In response, God sends a violent storm, which threatens to break the ship to pieces. The terrified crew cast lots and determines that Jonah is responsible for the storm. They toss him into the sea, and the water immediately grows calm.

However, instead of drowning, Jonah is swallowed by a whale, leading Jonah to conclude that, “Salvation comes from the Lord”. Eventually, the whale vomits up the reluctant prophet.

This time, Jonah walks through Nineveh proclaiming that in forty days the city will be destroyed. Somewhat surprisingly, the Ninevites believe Jonah’s message and solemnly repent by wearing sackcloth and covering themselves in ashes. God has compassion on them and does not destroy them.

‘Fabulous Eyes’ is another strange story. “Virtuous face and fabulous eyes, fabulous eyes, fabulous eyes, I went to meet on Orange Street. A man came after me.

“He said he did not want my raise, he wanted for to give me praise. He said, ‘You have a lovely fame, on the time looking for rain’.”

‘Spiritual Mambo’ is a record that is suitable to dance the mento, the limbo or the ska to, or at least to tap your foot along with. It features Charles Organera blowing his harmonica and the good Lord Briscoe whooping it up. A cross rhythm in a Latin-American groove gives it a unique feel.

Anyway, after Brisco is killed, Larry Lawrence and brother Cleve throw a party to celebrate the demise of their former friend. Rae Lawrence dies and leaves his sons a legacy, enabling Larry to set up a pattie and hardough bread shop in Brixton that is dedicated to his old man, a retreat named My Father’s Place, along Coldharbour Lane. Cleveland squanders his money on white rum and ganga.

Westman the Same is shot by Claudie Massop. Doo Izah is found sans head in a gully along the Spanish Town Road, murdered by JLP beasts. Earl George Lawrence remains on the run. He changes his name to George Faith to elude capture and now lives in Miami. Ray Headford dies ravaged by drugs. Larry Lawrence succumbs to cancer in the early 21st Century. Cleveland Lawrence lives on, his inane smile intact; he pesters people for change along Golborne Road and gets juiced in the Elgin public house on Ladbroke Grove every night.

Penny Reel suggests that Lord Lloyd Briscoe’s small catalogue of unusual recordings represent a rich seam in the vein of Jamaica’s masterful musical tapestry; to mix our metaphors between the businesses of mining and embroidery somewhat.

Yes, my darlings. Come mek me hol’ yuh hand.


----------



## CH1 (Oct 5, 2015)

ringo said:


> Some background from reggae writer Penny Reel on the early life of the late Larry Lawrence, proprietor of My Fathers Place on Coldharbour Lane for many years and owner of the Ethnic Fight record label. Always a kind and generous soul whenever I knew him.


I posted this elsewhere - but just for completeness, My Fathers Place started as a record shop. I think it changed to a restaurant/bar before 1990, but not as smart initially as the photo above. The record shop is shown in a 1986 photo below.
By local (Coldharbour Lane) accounts Larry was indeed a bad boy, but in the late 80s had a car accident in Jamaica which he said led him to become "born again" or at least a reformed character, putting his energies into his restaurant.


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## editor (Oct 5, 2015)

CH1 said:


> I posted this elsewhere - but just for completeness, My Fathers Place started as a record shop. I think it changed to a restaurant/bar before 1990, but not as smart initially as the photo above. The record shop is shown in a 1986 photo below.
> By local (Coldharbour Lane) accounts Larry was indeed a bad boy, but in the late 80s had a car accident in Jamaica which he said led him to become "born again" or at least a reformed character, putting his energies into his restaurant.


I've still got those pics you sent me and I will sort out an article soon - promise!


----------



## ringo (Oct 5, 2015)

CH1 said:


> I posted this elsewhere - but just for completeness, My Fathers Place started as a record shop. I think it changed to a restaurant/bar before 1990, but not as smart initially as the photo above. The record shop is shown in a 1986 photo below.
> By local (Coldharbour Lane) accounts Larry was indeed a bad boy, but in the late 80s had a car accident in Jamaica which he said led him to become "born again" or at least a reformed character, putting his energies into his restaurant.



I didn't know that. By the time I moved there in the 90's it was already My Fathers Place, but he would let me wander round the back of the shop to go through his boxes of records and always had time to chat about is musical history.


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 5, 2015)

posted by @robnitm on tweeter today








wonder just how foxtons would describe them...


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## CH1 (Oct 5, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> posted by @robnitm on tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Any idea of the precise location?
Seems to me it could be Wyck Gardens (where Ebony Horse Club is now), with Milbrook Road in the background and a now removed part of Angell Road in the foreground.

My 1930 Bartholomews Handy Reference Atlas to London & Suburbs give no definitive answer - there is no obvious green space which could be Loughborough Gardens. But it does show Milbrook Road extending all the way to Loughborough Road and Angell Road cutting across Barrington Road such that a park/green space could have existed there. And it would explain the road in the foreground.

Can't see it being in the Loughborough Park area - Loughborough Park existed, but was surrounded by mid-Victorian house which still exist.


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 5, 2015)

CH1 said:


> Any idea of the precise location?



Taking 'Loughborough Gardens' at face value, I'm struggling to get a perspective on where in the park it could have been.  Loughborough Gardens itself is shown as allotments - many parks etc were dug up for allotments during the war.

A look on Old Maps - head for the 1951 1:1250 map shows Loughborough Park as being fully surrounded by houses (including on the west side of Loughborough Park as far south as Moorland Road)

That map also shows a cul-de-sac of small detatched properties called 'Park Gardens' running where Tilia Walk is now, only more so.  The short life of these properties and the era make me fairly sure they would have been pre-fabs.  But the layout is not anything like this picture.

Hmm.

[All of above now a side issue but left as of possible interest]

I've tried another tack and come up with a better version of this picture (on brixton blog here) - 






which says it's where the Loughborough Estate now is.

Hmm.

Nailed the bugger.

A (temporary) street called Loughborough Gardens, not in Loughborough Gardens - Here  (again, go to the 1951 map)  - off Loughborough Road, roughly where the south end of Styles Gardens is now - just north of the junction with (then) Minet Road.  Photographer is on Loughborough Road near the Barrington Road junction, facing east - the large building in the background is the railway electric sub station on the west side of the railway, just where the three lines join north of Loughborough Junction.


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## CH1 (Oct 5, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> which says it's where the Loughborough Estate now is.
> Nailed the bugger.
> 
> A (temporary) street called Loughborough Gardens, not in Loughborough Gardens - Here  (again, go to the 1951 map)  - off Loughborough Road, roughly where the south end of Styles Gardens is now - just north of the junction with (then) Minet Road.  Photographer is on Loughborough Road near the Barrington Road junction, facing east - the large building in the background is the railway electric sub station on the west side of the railway, just where the three lines join north of Loughborough Junction.


Agreed - the railway electricity substation seals it.


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## Happy House (Oct 7, 2015)

CH1 said:


> Agreed - the railway electricity substation seals it.


I love your old photos of Brixton. I found this one of the old Bon Marche store on this site


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## editor (Oct 13, 2015)

Brixton ten years ago:

















Brixton Ten Years Ago – Coldharbour Lane art squat, a giant cross and a Prince Albert Halloween, October 2005


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 17, 2015)

on tweeter today from old london mush








(the concept of a 'change pit' is explained here - inner London's tramways were built with electric live rails in a 'conduit' between the outer tracks, but much of outer London (including the bit from Effra Road to the West Norwood terminus) were on the (much cheaper to build / maintain) overhead wire system.  Change pits allowed trams to change from one to the other.)

Route 33 ran via the Kingsway Subway from West Norwood to Manor House (it transmogrified in to the 172 bus)


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## friendofdorothy (Oct 17, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today from old london mush
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Did the number buses and trams differently?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 17, 2015)

friendofdorothy said:


> Did the number buses and trams differently?


 
yes - assuming you mean the route numbers (which London tram people called 'service' numbers and London bus people called 'route numbers' but let's not confuse matters.  the vehicles had their own numbering sequence as well - I suspect 1956 on this photo was the number of the individual tram - certainly not the date.)

Until 1933 when London Transport was formed, trams and buses were run by separate organisations - buses by the London General and a few others, trams in inner London by the London County Council (outer London had a mix of company and council operators - councils including Croydon had their own trams) and each had their own route numbering system.

this tram is on service 33 (broadly speaking, odd number tram routes were north London, even numbers were south London, but the Kingsway Subway routes were in the north London sequence.)

there were a few places where tram and bus routes with the same number overlapped - e.g. the 54 bus (Woolwich - Croydon ish) ran alongside the 54 tram (Grove Park - Victoria - today's 136 bus at the Grove Park end) between Lewisham and Catford, 68 bus and 68 tram overlapped Elephant - Waterloo.  but intending passengers must have coped with it somehow.

Trolleybuses got numbered in to the 500+ / 600+ sequence (generally adding 500 or 600 to the old tram route number), and had the war not happened, south London's trams would have been replaced by trolleybuses by about 1942/3 so presume London Transport was prepared to put up with this as a short term thing.


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## friendofdorothy (Oct 17, 2015)

Are bus routes 2 and 3 through brixton from early bus routes, as they have such low numbers?


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## CH1 (Oct 17, 2015)

friendofdorothy said:


> Are bus routes 2 and 3 through brixton from early bus routes, as they have such low numbers?


There is a fabulously detailed account of the history of routes 2, 2A and 2B on wikipedia London Buses route 2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Extract:
Route 2 was the last West End bus route that was operated by step-entrance buses other than AEC Routemasters. Like most low numbered routes, it was originally a cross-London service, which ran from Crystal Palace to North Finchley, later cut back to Golders Green. During peak hours it extended to Arnos Grove station via Whetstone.[1]

another interesting observation from that page:
The 2/2A/2B used London's first bus lane, southbound on Vauxhall Bridge, coming into operation on 26 February 1968.[1]


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## friendofdorothy (Oct 17, 2015)

Here's some more trams on Brixton Hill:


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## teuchter (Oct 17, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> (the concept of a 'change pit' is explained here - inner London's tramways were built with electric live rails in a 'conduit' between the outer tracks, but much of outer London (including the bit from Effra Road to the West Norwood terminus) were on the (much cheaper to build / maintain) overhead wire system.  Change pits allowed trams to change from one to the other.)



Didn't trams also get pulled up Brixton Hill via mechanical cables (in a conduit) at some point?


----------



## CH1 (Oct 17, 2015)

friendofdorothy said:


> Are bus routes 2 and 3 through brixton from early bus routes, as they have such low numbers?


Glad you asked that question as I wanted to know the same thing. Bus route 3 is if anything even more complicated.
London Buses route 3 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The one that I use a lot and has changed considerably even over the last


friendofdorothy said:


> Here's some more trams on Brixton Hill:


159 obviously became the 159 we know and love - but bus 157 in all my time has been an outer suburban route taking in places like Raynes Park, Morden, St Helier, Crystal Palace and Croydon.


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## friendofdorothy (Oct 17, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Didn't trams also get pulled up Brixton Hill via mechanical cables (in a conduit) at some point?


thats whats happening in the pic above - item here about it:
London Brixton Hill


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## CH1 (Oct 18, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Didn't trams also get pulled up Brixton Hill via mechanical cables (in a conduit) at some point?


Wasn't the tram shed in front of the the Brixton Hill URC church the site of the original winding gear?


----------



## teuchter (Oct 18, 2015)

CH1 said:


> 159 obviously became the 159 we know and love - but bus 157 in all my time has been an outer suburban route taking in places like Raynes Park, Morden, St Helier, Crystal Palace and Croydon.



I think those in that photo might actually be car numbers rather than route numbers, as they seem to be painted onto the vehicles directly.


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 18, 2015)

friendofdorothy said:


> Are bus routes 2 and 3 through brixton from early bus routes, as they have such low numbers?


 
London bus route numbers got a major sort out in about 1912 (the Met Police were then involved) - before that some bus operators had done their own thing.  Not sure there's any rational explanation of what routes got what numbers or why, or if there was, it's lost in the mists of time.

But yes, the 2 and 3 have been in existence (albeit altered over the years) for 100+ years

Of the current low numbered bus routes, the 5 and 17 date from the late 50s / early 60s trolleybus replacement and the current 10 dates from the late 80s or early 90s.  Numbers do get recycled if routes vanish.



teuchter said:


> Didn't trams also get pulled up Brixton Hill via mechanical cables (in a conduit) at some point?


 
Yes - it was one of two cable tramways in London (the other was Highgate Hill)   Editor's done more about Brixton's trams here including the cable trams



CH1 said:


> 159 obviously became the 159 we know and love - but bus 157 in all my time has been an outer suburban route taking in places like Raynes Park, Morden, St Helier, Crystal Palace and Croydon.


 


teuchter said:


> I think those in that photo might actually be car numbers rather than route numbers, as they seem to be painted onto the vehicles directly.


 
yes, teuchter is right here - those are the tram's fleet numbers not route numbers.  LCC trams didn't carry route numbers until 1913.  The three lights above the destination boxes showed a combination of coloured lights by night to identify the route. (from what I have read, this was more to help the pointsmen at major junctions than the passengers...)



CH1 said:


> Wasn't the tram shed in front of the the Brixton Hill URC church the site of the original winding gear?


 
Don't think so - I'm pretty sure that the winding gear was in the tram depot on Streatham Hill (the one opposite Telford Avenue - now Arriva bus garage - it was completely rebuilt c. 1950/1 when trams were replaced by buses) - the surviving tram depot on Brixton Hill (also now used by Arriva) was built in the 1920s.

The small cable tram depot at Kennington (20 Brixton Road, used as an electrical sub-station when the cable trams ended, and now Italian Mission Church) is still standing.

Pictures of various Brixton related tramway buildings on this here thread, in which there was some confusion at first about which building was which...


----------



## bimble (Oct 18, 2015)

Nothing to do with trams but.. here's a thing about the Doll Hospital that once was on Coldharbour lane.
(the writing is from a book called 'brixton memories' from the Brixton Society stall a while back, and the photo is from here somewhere).


----------



## CH1 (Oct 18, 2015)

bimble said:


> Nothing to do with trams but.. here's a thing about the Doll Hospital that once was on Coldharbour lane.
> (the writing is from a book called 'brixton memories' from the Brixton Society stall a while back, and the photo is from here somewhere).
> View attachment 78252


Anyone know the date? Presumably post WWII as the 414 building is there, but before 1981 riot as what is now an opticians shop corner of Electric Lane is a Victorian building in the photo by the look of it.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 18, 2015)

CH1 said:


> Anyone know the date? Presumably post WWII as the 414 building is there, but before 1981 riot as what is now an opticians shop corner of Electric Lane is a Victorian building in the photo by the look of it.


 
editor says 1958 - here


----------



## bimble (Oct 18, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> editor says 1958 - here


yes that's where i got it from.


----------



## Casaubon (Oct 20, 2015)

bimble said:


> Nothing to do with trams but.. here's a thing about the Doll Hospital that once was on Coldharbour lane.
> (the writing is from a book called 'brixton memories' from the Brixton Society stall a while back, and the photo is from here somewhere).
> View attachment 78252



Here's a pic of the same stretch of Coldharbour Lane in '89.

 


And a couple of the same stretch from the roof of Clifton Mansions.


----------



## bimble (Oct 20, 2015)

!


----------



## RoyReed (Oct 22, 2015)

I found a couple of nice archive photos of the Brixton Tram Depot on Flickr.




London Transport Tram Route 18 by Chris  Stanley, on Flickr




London Transport Tram Route 16 by Chris  Stanley, on Flickr

It's the depot opposite Telford Avenue on Streatham Hill - you can tell from the 1930s block of flats (Pullman Court) in the background of the first shot.

And a bit more history here: London Brixton Hill


----------



## Happy House (Oct 27, 2015)

teuchter said:


> trams also get pulled up Brixton Hill via mechanical cables


This very website provides the reply you're looking for. See Brixton Hill cable tram. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2


----------



## calno4 (Nov 1, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Taking 'Loughborough Gardens' at face value, I'm struggling to get a perspective on where in the park it could have been.  Loughborough Gardens itself is shown as allotments - many parks etc were dug up for allotments during the war.
> 
> A look on Old Maps - head for the 1951 1:1250 map shows Loughborough Park as being fully surrounded by houses (including on the west side of Loughborough Park as far south as Moorland Road)
> 
> ...


----------



## calno4 (Nov 1, 2015)

This aerial shot of Barrington Road and Loughborough Road was taken 11th May 1950, it shows quite a few Nissen Huts


----------



## calno4 (Nov 1, 2015)

This one is 19th April 1949


----------



## calno4 (Nov 1, 2015)

This article is from 
*Gloucester Citizen 13 February 1945*


----------



## CH1 (Nov 1, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 78912
> This article is from
> *Gloucester Citizen 13 February 1945*


Brilliant work. Looks to me as though when the area was redeveloped for the New Loughborough Estate they straightened Barrington Road at the intersection with Loughborough Road and moved the Hero of Switzerland pub (i.e. rebuilt a new version of it a bit south of the original).

Of course if they hadn't redone the roads to be more car-friendly we might not be our present pickle (as per the LJ threads)


----------



## calno4 (Nov 1, 2015)

Cant recall where I got these from, had them some time now


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## calno4 (Nov 1, 2015)

Maybe this file at National Archives will show if the road was straightened


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## calno4 (Nov 1, 2015)

Loughborough Estate, Barrington Road: looking west from Loughborough Road 1957. This one from Collage   They have loads of photos of the estate


----------



## editor (Nov 1, 2015)

Another feature on Brixton trams:






Brixton history: trams and buses and the abandoned Brixton underground tram station scheme


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 1, 2015)

editor said:


> Another feature on Brixton trams:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 



conductor is taking the trolley pole down off the overhead.  tram has just been through the change pit and acquired a conduit 'plough' for its journey in to central london


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## calno4 (Nov 3, 2015)

Currently for sale on ebay


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## CH1 (Nov 3, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 79038 View attachment 79039
> 
> Currently for sale on ebay


Thanks for sharing. Looks like Effra Parade perhaps. Bayless windows two storey.

Find ebay a bit depressing in a way. One person's "ephemera" is another person's icon.
I would love to have the photo - but I find the idea of bidding for it repellent. 

Do they sell signed photos of the Queen?


----------



## calno4 (Nov 5, 2015)

Taken Jan 1st 1937 Described as A&A Motor Spares, 175 Brixton Hill, Lambeth, London, 1937. Large house with cars parked in the front garden, and signs for car repair firm. It could be where the Marie Stopes Clinic now is.


----------



## calno4 (Nov 5, 2015)

Also from Gettyimages
 
Taken 20th July 1971. Described as A supermarket in Brixton advertises reduced prices after Chancellor Anthony Barber had cut purchase tax on many goods and made hire purchase easier.

Think its Tescos when in Popes Road.

Also on there is this taken March 16th 1966
 
Described as...Ready at the tills on the first day at a Tesco supermarket in Brixton, south London.


----------



## CH1 (Nov 5, 2015)

calno4 said:


> Also from Gettyimages
> View attachment 79148
> Taken 20th July 1971. Described as A supermarket in Brixton advertises reduced prices after Chancellor Anthony Barber had cut purchase tax on many goods and made hire purchase easier.
> 
> ...


Remember it well - after Green Shield stamps finished though.
Popes Road car park next door and extra car parking on the shop roof it was a good example of how retailers situated themselves appropriately to their customers.

It is amazing that Ted Knight and the town hall socialists managed to get into a deal with Tesco to
a) demolish the oldest house in Acre Lane
b) remove 50% of the customers from Brixton market at a stroke
c) provide a massive dual use car park  for Town Hall staff...............uh - ooh


----------



## calno4 (Nov 5, 2015)

Coldharbour Lane December 1975
Coldharbour lane Brixton 1975 December


----------



## CH1 (Nov 5, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 79182
> View attachment 79183
> Coldharbour Lane December 1975
> Coldharbour lane Brixton 1975 December


These are brilliant thank you.

I as only able to buy my house because they burnt down Barkers in the 1985 Cherry Groce riot - and this enboldened me to knock £4000 off the offer price of my place about 75 yrds toward LJ.

The Dan Davis Chemists clock is a land mark. Presumably went at the point of off-licensification, or perhaps the pharmacy took it to Brixton Hill with them.


----------



## calno4 (Nov 5, 2015)

Granville Court Brixton 1961
I think that lettering above the doorway is still there today


----------



## editor (Nov 5, 2015)

CH1 said:


> The Dan Davis Chemists clock is a land mark. Presumably went at the point of off-licensification, or perhaps the pharmacy took it to Brixton Hill with them.


It was there till fairly recently, I think. Remember when the chemist closed and it was briefly an odds'n'sods store with the staff still wearying the same white coats? Very odd!


----------



## calno4 (Nov 5, 2015)

Where I grew up, the Guinness at bottom of Somerleyton Road. This was during construction in 1938 and the clock in 1953


----------



## calno4 (Nov 5, 2015)

Heres some of the builders in 1938 posing outside Elveden House


----------



## Jangleballix (Nov 5, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 79188
> Granville Court Brixton 1961
> I think that lettering above the doorway is still there today


----------



## editor (Nov 6, 2015)

Jangleballix said:


>



I wrote a piece about that clip here: 
Salvation Army beat combo The Joystrings rock Brixton Village, 1964


----------



## calno4 (Nov 7, 2015)

Nice postcard currently on Ebay showing the Dairy, Pub and School in Canterbury Road. Its postmarked 1906


----------



## calno4 (Nov 9, 2015)

Shops next to the Loughborough Park Tavern Coldharbour Lane. I think Hobdays later became Squires Newsagents, or if not then it was furthur along a bit. An old neighbour tells me that Blakes had a few shops along here, plus the petrol station that used to be there, and kept a black cab in Sussex Road.


----------



## calno4 (Nov 9, 2015)

Valentia Place. Stills from the 1969 film "All neat in black stockings"

 
As it looks now.


----------



## editor (Nov 9, 2015)

Brixton ten years ago:

















Brixton Ten years Ago – Dogstar, Babalou, Fridge Bar and Coldharbour Lane, November 2005


----------



## calno4 (Nov 9, 2015)

Passing the Prince of Wales maybe?


----------



## calno4 (Nov 9, 2015)

The Prince of Wales Saloon bar entrance and the upstairs restaurant in 1930


----------



## CH1 (Nov 9, 2015)

calno4 said:


> The Prince of Wales Saloon bar entrance and the upstairs restaurant in 1930
> View attachment 79407 View attachment 79408 View attachment 79409


The decor seems a bit art deco. I remember the ground floor saloon as in the period 1977 - 1986 approx being rather large and with a low stage/dancefloor area. The bar was very long and curved too.

The photos you have here makes upstairs look more like a tea room - which suggests if it had survived intact the English Heritage people would have listed the Prince of Wales as an example of the inter-war New Pub catering for the whole family in a genteel and uncorrupting way. It did not last like that though!


----------



## editor (Nov 9, 2015)

I'm about to do a 'Brixton 15 Years Ago' feature but can't work out where this was taken.  I think it was the Elm Park Tavern, but could it be the Queens/Dogstar? That carpet is confusing me!


----------



## billythefish (Nov 10, 2015)

editor said:


> I'm about to do a 'Brixton 15 Years Ago' feature but can't work out where this was taken.  I think it was the Elm Park Tavern, but could it be the Queens/Dogstar? That carpet is confusing me!
> 
> View attachment 79412


Definitely not EPT. Could it be the Auld Triangle on Clapham Park Road, now the Coach and Horses? They had a pool table / TV alignment like that, although I can't remember whether there was carpet.


----------



## editor (Nov 10, 2015)

billythefish said:


> Definitely not EPT. Could it be the Auld Triangle on Clapham Park Road, now the Coach and Horses? They had a pool table / TV alignment like that, although I can't remember whether there was carpet.


It's not there. It's going to be a central Brixton boozer. Maybe it was the Queens?


----------



## peterkro (Nov 10, 2015)

editor said:


> I'm about to do a 'Brixton 15 Years Ago' feature but can't work out where this was taken.  I think it was the Elm Park Tavern, but could it be the Queens/Dogstar? That carpet is confusing me!
> 
> View attachment 79412


It's not the New Queens definitely.


----------



## editor (Nov 10, 2015)

peterkro said:


> It's not the New Queens definitely.


I meant the old Queen in Bellefields Road but I don't think it's that now.


----------



## peterkro (Nov 10, 2015)

editor said:


> I meant the old Queen in Bellefields Road but I don't think it's that now.


I suspected that,the New Queens is the best part of a hundred years older than the Old Queens diagonally opposite.No carpet and no TV in that bar and you couldn't take that picture because of the Victorian divider it was a black and squatter pub when I drank there in the seventies and eighties.


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## technical (Nov 10, 2015)

I miss pubs that look like that.


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## friendofdorothy (Nov 10, 2015)

most pubs looked like that - nicotine yellow walls and carpets with patterns loud enough that they might hide vomit. I miss them too. The current fashion for stripped floorboard makes sound bounce around and everything so loud.


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## RoyReed (Nov 11, 2015)

August 19 1929: The entrance Hall of the Brixton Astoria, England's first landscape theatre


(Photo by Billie Bristow/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 11, 2015)

Brixton Windmill






Some more images of old Brixton with this one: Old Photos of Brixton in the City of London, England, United Kingdom ofGreat Britain


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## bimble (Nov 11, 2015)

CH1 said:


> These are brilliant thank you.
> 
> I as only able to buy my house because they burnt down Barkers in the 1985 Cherry Groce riot



Can't make it out from the photo  - what was Barkers ? What did they do or sell in there ?


----------



## CH1 (Nov 11, 2015)

bimble said:


> Can't make it out from the photo  - what was Barkers ? What did they do or sell in there ?


It was the furniture shop on the ground floor of the building on the apex of Barrington Road and Gresham Road.
The incident was a bit like "Reeves Corner" burning down in Croydon in 2011. Our fire was smaller probably, but the whole building collapsed live on TV.
The chapel next door was damaged by water from the fire hoses - the organ was put out of action. They can't afford for the organ to be restored.
When Metropolitan Housing were given the job of rebuilding the site, they retained the shape of the building, but made the ground floor into a beautiful gated car park for dumped cars.


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## teuchter (Nov 11, 2015)

Yeah, who owns those cars and why are they in there, covered with what looks like several years' worth of dust?


----------



## peterkro (Nov 11, 2015)

friendofdorothy said:


> most pubs looked like that - nicotine yellow walls and carpets with patterns loud enough that they might hide vomit. I miss them too. The current fashion for stripped floorboard makes sound bounce around and everything so loud.


I think you are probably old enough to remember Brady's in Brixton (fondly called "the Vomitorium").Jesus how they got that nicotine colour on the walls and ceiling must have taken fifty years,the carpet,good grief I swear it moved even if you hadn't taken acid.


----------



## CH1 (Nov 11, 2015)

teuchter said:


> Yeah, who owns those cars and why are they in there, covered with what looks like several years' worth of dust?


----------



## friendofdorothy (Nov 11, 2015)

peterkro said:


> I think you are probably old enough to remember Brady's in Brixton (fondly called "the Vomitorium").Jesus how they got that nicotine colour on the walls and ceiling must have taken fifty years,the carpet,good grief I swear it moved even if you hadn't taken acid.


I thought Brady's had sawdust on the floor - or was that just to protect the carpet?


----------



## Tricky Skills (Nov 11, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 79290
> Nice postcard currently on Ebay showing the Dairy, Pub and School in Canterbury Road. Its postmarked 1906



What a bittersweet picture. The Canterbury, RIP


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## spitfire (Nov 11, 2015)

editor said:


> I'm about to do a 'Brixton 15 Years Ago' feature but can't work out where this was taken.  I think it was the Elm Park Tavern, but could it be the Queens/Dogstar? That carpet is confusing me!
> 
> View attachment 79412



Definitely not the Doggy, it never had carpet.


----------



## spitfire (Nov 11, 2015)

CH1 said:


> It was the furniture shop on the ground floor of the building on the apex of Barrington Road and Gresham Road.
> The incident was a bit like "Reeves Corner" burning down in Croydon in 2011. Our fire was smaller probably, but the whole building collapsed live on TV.
> The chapel next door was damaged by water from the fire hoses - the organ was put out of action. They can't afford for the organ to be restored.
> When Metropolitan Housing were given the job of rebuilding the site, they retained the shape of the building, but made the ground floor into a beautiful gated car park for dumped cars.
> View attachment 79493



Were you in Brixton for an earlier big fire? The carpet shop in Coldharbour Lane c. 1974/5 (?) I was very young but it was one of my first memories being put in a panda car while the fire brigade put it out.


----------



## peterkro (Nov 11, 2015)

friendofdorothy said:


> I thought Brady's had sawdust on the floor - or was that just to protect the carpet?


No it never had sawdust (although I remember such pubs in NZ in the sixties) it did have a threadbare carpet that had been there for decades and contained some very dubious stains,blood, vomit and so on.

E2a: I replaced the carpet in the Fridge (and got a backhander from the contractors for giving it to them),there's such a thing as insects who colonise bars,they lifted the carpet and there were thousands of the fuckers.


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## CH1 (Nov 11, 2015)

editor said:


> I'm about to do a 'Brixton 15 Years Ago' feature but can't work out where this was taken.  I think it was the Elm Park Tavern, but could it be the Queens/Dogstar? That carpet is confusing me!
> 
> View attachment 79412


Could it have been the Angell? They had a pool table in the RH bar.


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## peterkro (Nov 11, 2015)

CH1 said:


> Could it have been the Angell? They had a pool table in the RH bar.


It's possible but I don't think there was that much room around the table and at least when Louie was the publican it was much more "distressed than that".The carpet however looks familiar.


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## calno4 (Nov 12, 2015)

Brixton Greyhound Stadium. Opened 10th September 1932, demolished after the war. Brixton Road junction with Knowle Road. About where St Helens Catholic school is now.

More can be read about it here http://www.greyhoundracinghistory.co.uk/brixton.pdf

Theres three more photos here Europeana - Homepage   (search brixton greyhound).

More here 
Nos 344-364 Brixton Road (and junction of Knowle Road) | The National Archives

Description:

Proposed greyhound racing track, proposed new cinema, proposed shops and flats, proposed primary school.


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## superfly101 (Nov 12, 2015)

Whippets > Greyhounds 

Racing dogs for the common man #runs


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## calno4 (Nov 12, 2015)

The Greyhound Stadium can be seen in this aerial view taken 7th February 1939, far right , next to Brixton Independant Church, that church became Our Lady of the Rosary in 1953


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## calno4 (Nov 12, 2015)

In 1905, the London County Council opened a Residential Home for Mentally Defective Boys at 48-50 Acre Lane
 
History of it here The Children's Homes website - LCC Residential Home for Mentally Defective Boys, Brixton, London


----------



## boohoo (Nov 12, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 79375
> Shops next to the Loughborough Park Tavern Coldharbour Lane. I think Hobdays later became Squires Newsagents, or if not then it was furthur along a bit. An old neighbour tells me that Blakes had a few shops along here, plus the petrol station that used to be there, and kept a black cab in Sussex Road.



Was the Loughborough Park Tavern the elusive pub that is where the Barrier block is now?

Loving these pics and info calno4


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## calno4 (Nov 12, 2015)

Yes it was Boohoo


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## calno4 (Nov 12, 2015)

This is how it used to look along there before the Barrier block got built. I think that 321 and 325 were ruins and not photographed


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## calno4 (Nov 12, 2015)

Atlantic Road 1917

 

Sunday Mirror December 9, 1917

 
Sheffield Evening Telegraph December 11, 1917

 
Dundee Telegraph

 
Daily Mirror December 29, 1917

 
Daily Mirror February 02, 1918


----------



## boohoo (Nov 12, 2015)

calno4 said:


> Atlantic Road 1917
> 
> View attachment 79530
> 
> ...



Just 9 months for stealing a baby. Can't imagine leaving a baby in a buggy outside a shop.


----------



## boohoo (Nov 12, 2015)

double post!


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## teuchter (Nov 12, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 79521
> The Greyhound Stadium can be seen in this aerial view taken 7th February 1939, far right , next to Brixton Independant Church, that church became Our Lady of the Rosary in 1953


Where are you getting these old aerial photos from?


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## calno4 (Nov 12, 2015)

From here teuchter Britain from Above | Rescue the Past   a collection of aerial photographs from 1919-1953. Register, its free, and it will allow you to zoom. Searching can be a bit hit n miss, just keep using different search words.  *Image reference * EPW060448 for the one with the Greyhound Stadium. The photo I posted was just a small zoomed in snip of a much larger image that extended up past the town hall, Effra road etc.
Another interesting one is:
*Title * Herne Hill North Railway Junction and the surrounding residential area, Brixton, 1939
*Image reference * EPW060447
*Date * 7th February 1939


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 12, 2015)

didn't know brixton had a doggydrome at one time.

in trying to research more about this, i got as far a video of a dogs' tea party in brixton, 1958


----------



## teuchter (Nov 13, 2015)

calno4 said:


> From here teuchter Britain from Above | Rescue the Past   a collection of aerial photographs from 1919-1953. Register, its free, and it will allow you to zoom. Searching can be a bit hit n miss, just keep using different search words.  *Image reference * EPW060448 for the one with the Greyhound Stadium. The photo I posted was just a small zoomed in snip of a much larger image that extended up past the town hall, Effra road etc.
> Another interesting one is:
> *Title * Herne Hill North Railway Junction and the surrounding residential area, Brixton, 1939
> *Image reference * EPW060447
> *Date * 7th February 1939


Ah, great, thanks!

I am going to have to ban myself from looking at it for the day, or I'll not get any work done.


----------



## boohoo (Nov 13, 2015)

calno4 said:


> This is how it used to look along there before the Barrier block got built. I think that 321 and 325 were ruins and not photographed
> View attachment 79527



These photos are great.


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## calno4 (Nov 14, 2015)

Atlantic Road Post Office 1936


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## calno4 (Nov 14, 2015)

It was robbed on the 28th September 1930


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## calno4 (Nov 20, 2015)

1938. British Pathe film of this here


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## calno4 (Nov 20, 2015)

editor said:


> Ah, I've always wondered about that building. There is a telephone exchange further along Gresham Road.



In the census of 1871 for 7 Gresham Road it was called Gresham House, occupied by a retired picture dealer, his wife and a servant. He married his wife in Brixton in 1853. The London Gazette has him at Gresham Lodge Gresham Road in 1866.

1881 it shows as uninhabited. No name given.
1891 has it as Gresham Hall
1901 Gresham Hall uninhabited

The picture dealer who was Edwin Hillman was buried at Norwood Cemetary 4 July 1890.

By 1910 it had become the Brixton Telephone Exchange, not seen it on the 1911 census but its mentioned in an article about a fire I´m researching.

 

Gresham Hall too had a major fire February 1884. Most articles about this fire refer to it as Gresham Hall but one says Gresham Hall better known as the Angel Town Institution. Another says it was owned by the Gresham Hall Company (Limited) and used for entertainment.

This one describes the hall



It was also said that the adjoining houses were not damaged.

So whether the 7 Gresham Road of today was rebuilt after 1884 I dont know.  Maybe it once had a hall at the rear?

Its neighbours in 1871 were Roydon Lodge, Morland Villas, Denmark House, Dieppe House and Dieppe Lodge, York House....


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## CH1 (Nov 20, 2015)

calno4 said:


> In the census of 1871 for 7 Gresham Road it was called Gresham House, occupied by a retired picture dealer, his wife and a servant. He married his wife in Brixton in 1853. The London Gazette has him at Gresham Lodge Gresham Road in 1866.
> 
> 1881 it shows as uninhabited. No name given.
> 1891 has it as Gresham Hall
> ...


The manager showed me round a year or so ago. (It is of course now called the Karibu).

You can see from the windows that a mezzanine floor was added splitting the hall horizontally at window level and doubling the floor area - probably when the building became the telephone exchange. 

The insertion of a mezzanine floor - thus destroying the original grand auditorium also happened at Rayleigh Hall/Brixton Liberal Club at 1, Saltoun Road. That building had a concert hall added to the rear (flanking Saltoun Road) but when it fell into disuse as a political club and meeting/concert venue the hall was subdivided and used as a garment factory sweatshop. When Lambeth took control they allowed artists and furniture manufacturers to occupy the space, and then lost control to the occupiers in a court case. That is why the Black Cultural Archives only have the part of the building fronting Windrush Square, which in retrospect is a great pity. The rear part would have made a good lecture hall/cinema etc.


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## calno4 (Nov 21, 2015)

February 2nd 1931


----------



## GarveyLives (Nov 22, 2015)

calno4 said:


> View attachment 79038 View attachment 79039
> 
> Currently for sale on ebay








*Arguably more fascinating than repeated reminiscing about imperial, colonial Brixton, would be to hear the stories of those with whom Lord Scarman met 34 years after his visit.*​


----------



## editor (Nov 23, 2015)

editor said:


> I'm about to do a 'Brixton 15 Years Ago' feature but can't work out where this was taken.  I think it was the Elm Park Tavern, but could it be the Queens/Dogstar? That carpet is confusing me!
> 
> View attachment 79412


I think it might be in the Prince Albert. There used t be a pool table there until the knives came out over ball-related disputes.


----------



## editor (Nov 23, 2015)

Brixton 15 years ago: 





















Brixton 15 years ago – market life, street scenes, Windrush Square and more, November 2000


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## spitfire (Nov 23, 2015)

editor said:


> I think it might be in the Prince Albert. There used t be a pool table there until the knives came out over ball-related disputes.



Now that you mention it I think you're right, there's something familiar about that radiator. I'm sure I used to lean on that when playing.


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## editor (Nov 23, 2015)

spitfire said:


> Now that you mention it I think you're right, there's something familiar about that radiator. I'm sure I used to lean on that when playing.


Yeah, I think it is the long lost pool table of the Albert.


----------



## Smick (Nov 23, 2015)

editor said:


> Brixton 15 years ago:
> 
> ]



I have to admit, I love all your photo features. Those not too long ago. I first started coming to London in 1995, moved here in 2008 and have been here since. I think that the small changes in pictures of the High Road make the photos more interesting than those from the 20s with massive changes.

Keep taking the photos. Today's will be fascinating in fifteen years' time.


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## elizabeth kerr (Nov 25, 2015)

MsEyeson said:


> I went to Ashby Mill Primary School in the 90's - Did anyone on here go there on Lyham Road?
> Cant seem to find any other old photos of it only of the exterior which is obviously now flats.


hi there my name is Elizabeth kerr I want to Ashby Mill Primary School and want to a deferent school when it closed down


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## elizabeth kerr (Nov 26, 2015)

hi there did anyone know the park keeper who usto work in brokwell park about 40 years ago


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## cuppa tee (Nov 26, 2015)

elizabeth kerr said:


> hi there did anyone know the park keeper who usto work in brokwell park about 40 years ago


if you are on Facebook you might find someone in this group who can help you
........ Log in to Facebook | Facebook


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## simonSW2 (Nov 27, 2015)

Here's a great little documentary from 1980, narrated by young Danny Baker, looking at the Jazz-Funk scene in London, with a big section of it in Brixton.
See some young gents making their way down the stairs of Brixton tube and popping into Solar Records in the station. Then on to the Frontline Club for pints and a dance. Great stuff.


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## Casaubon (Nov 30, 2015)

CH1 said:


> The manager showed me round a year or so ago. (It is of course now called the Karibu).
> 
> You can see from the windows that a mezzanine floor was added splitting the hall horizontally at window level and doubling the floor area - probably when the building became the telephone exchange.
> 
> The insertion of a mezzanine floor - thus destroying the original grand auditorium also happened at Rayleigh Hall/Brixton Liberal Club at 1, Saltoun Road. That building had a concert hall added to the rear (flanking Saltoun Road) but when it fell into disuse as a political club and meeting/concert venue the hall was subdivided and used as a garment factory sweatshop. When Lambeth took control they allowed artists and furniture manufacturers to occupy the space, and then lost control to the occupiers in a court case. That is why the Black Cultural Archives only have the part of the building fronting Windrush Square, which in retrospect is a great pity. The rear part would have made a good lecture hall/cinema etc.



I'd bet that the mezzanine floor was added to convert the building from a telephone exchange to other uses. Exchanges had very high ceilings to accommodate tall racks of Strowger (electro-mechanical) relay cans. Above the racks were usually trays or trunking for all the necessary cables and jumper wires.

I can't find a film of a full-sized urban exchange, but this shows a small, rural version.


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## Tricky Skills (Nov 30, 2015)

Remember a time when Lambeth Labour opposed Tory cuts?

There's some tremendous historical footage in here. Tagging CH1 and lang rabbie.


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## bimble (Nov 30, 2015)




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## CH1 (Dec 1, 2015)

bimble said:


> View attachment 80235


Is that you?


----------



## CH1 (Dec 1, 2015)

Tricky Skills said:


> Remember a time when Lambeth Labour opposed Tory cuts?
> There's some tremendous historical footage in here. Tagging CH1 and lang rabbie.


This is a brilliant find. Thanks for posting.

*Last things first - note that this is a NEWSLINE film.*
Newsline was the newspaper arm of the Workers Revolutionary Party.
WRP had connections with Lambeth/Brixton. The Regraves - Corin and Vanessa apparently lived in Clapham. They were leading members of WRP and Corin stood as parliamentary candidate in the Lambeth Central by election in February 1979.

It was said that leader of the council Ted Knight's campaigning in Ferndale Ward was largely done by WRP activists.

The WRP bookshop was in Atlantic Road (site now occupied by Argos).

*The main issue highlighted is housing.* Ted Knight (leader) and Matthew Warburton - chair of Housing - are  complaining that funding cuts mean zero new council housing starts in 1982.

Obviously this is a continuing issue - but in context you hear Ted Knight complaining about Michael Heseltine refusing funding to Lambeth as a policy. Ted is right on that - but that is only half the story. Heseltine was directing funding away from London towards areas where there were even bigger problems due to closing steel works etc.

As Warburton says we did indeed reap the reward of zero housing investment in later years.

*Social Services - this part was introduced by Cllr Lesley Hammond (Angell Ward) chair of Social Services.*
Presumably if she had been alive today she would be liable to be called as a witness in the new Independent Child Abuse Enquiry - not least because one of the hot spots was in Angell Ward. I am not suggesting Lesley Hammond had any direct responsibility - just that as she had been Social Services chair and a ward councillor to one of the children's homes concerned the enquiry might have wanted to hear her comments.  

The bits about home helps and physiotherapy etc were very enlightening. Wonder how much of that is going on currently. One hears stories of people being allowed 10 minutes "contact time" per week.

I noticed that a that one of the major areas was not included - mental health. Presumably large numbers of current "community care" cases were still banged up in Tooting Bec Hospital (capacity 2,255 allegedly). In any case is seems at that time the budget for mental (ill) health was an NHS matter, not local councils.

*Skills training*
This was interesting. Lambeth Council was providing what are now laughingly called apprenticeships - on the rates. I would have thought such efforts were commendable by any measure and no doubt 100% better than what is currently dne by A4E and Green Man Skills Zone.

*Verdict*
I am not sure what function this film was intended to fulfil. It gives a sympathetic spin on the Labour administration of 1978-82. In fact the voters verdict was somewhat mixed - the council from 1982-1986 stared as a Conservative/SDP coalition - on the casting vote of the Conservative mayor.
Later one of the SDP councillors switched back to Labour. In my opinion this less than wholehearted political support for Ted Knight's policies was down to one thing - the constant increase of the rates (until the Tory government introduced rate capping to stop it).
*And finally.....*
I loved the advert on the back of the bus "RATS! - I forgot to put the lid back on my bin!"


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## editor (Dec 4, 2015)

Brixton 15 years ago:
















Brixton 15 years ago: street scenes around town, December 2000


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## technical (Dec 4, 2015)

I wouldn't have guessed that the Sainsburys by the tube opened that long ago!


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## Marjan (Dec 6, 2015)

Video footage from 1978:

_How do people in Brixton feel about race relations and immigration? World in Action sets out to investigate, amid the contentious Lambeth Central by-election campaign, where candidates range from the National Front to the Workers Revolutionary Party. The residents of Haycroft Road SW2 seem nonplussed by the furore, reasoning that the only real issue is whether or not their neighbours are 'Brixtonian'.

Watch Black to Front 1978_


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## editor (Dec 14, 2015)

Here's some scenes of Brixton's markets ten years ago. 
















Brixton Ten Years Ago – A look around the street markets, December 2005


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## editor (Dec 16, 2015)

Some more archive photos from a decade ago: 


























Brixton Ten Years Ago – Lost pubs, Routemaster farewell, Phoenix Cafe and squatted Brixton Cycles building, December 2005


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## Winot (Dec 16, 2015)

re. endangered species - the Nelson Mandela School never actually existed, did it?


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## editor (Dec 16, 2015)

Winot said:


> re. endangered species - the Nelson Mandela School never actually existed, did it?


It was proposed in 2005 with the support of Mr Dammers... 


> Jerry Dammers, the co-founder of the ska band the Specials, wrote the anti-apartheid ballad more than 20 years ago as part of the campaign to release Mr Mandela from jail in South Africa, but his new protest has a more prosaic feel: he has rewritten the work as a special plea to Lambeth council to give the go-ahead to build a secondary school in Brixton. The song will be re-recorded this afternoon to be delivered to local councillors.
> 
> The lyrics to the original song, which reached No 9 in the charts in 1984, have been amended as part of a campaign to build a school bearing Mr Mandela's name in an area of south London that currently has no secondary school.
> 
> ...


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## Winot (Dec 16, 2015)

Yep (Devon is a friend).  It never got past the proposal stage - Lambeth went for the site on the south circular instead that became City Heights Academy.


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## editor (Dec 16, 2015)

Winot said:


> Yep (Devon is a friend).  It never got past the proposal stage - Lambeth went for the site on the south circular instead that became City Heights Academy.


That name makes me shudder. It's pure Blairite/Tory aspirational US-style high fiving tosh.


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## Winot (Dec 16, 2015)

editor said:


> That name makes me shudder. It's pure Blairite/Tory aspirational US-style high fiving tosh.



Reminds me of Summer Heights High.


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## Angellic (Dec 16, 2015)

Puck you.


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## Gramsci (Dec 17, 2015)

I know gentrification has been done a lot here. But heard this radio programme tonight ( its on I player now). Covered a lot of subjects and one of the best programmes Ive heard on cities recently.

Starts out as discussion of cities and safety- given recent terrorism. And past with discussion of Conrad "The Secret Agent"  Then goes into how cities are becoming more divided and this is potentially in the future going to make cities less safe. ( My disagreement with contributors is that cities are always contested spaces. Even if this take place over long period of time.)

Good discussion of the downsides of CCTV in making cities ( allegedly) safe. The academics agreeing there is little evidence CCTV reduces crime.

Wide ranging talk from US cities to Hackney in London.

Hackney was discussed a lot as typical of what is happening to inner city. One example was research by one of the academics ( plug for academics they are much more interesting to listen to than politicians) was that school results had improved in Hackney. Probably due to "gentrification" but that at same time school exclusions of poorer black kids had increased. Implication is that the less well off were now considered to be more a a problem in schools now there was larger amount of well off middle class kids.

CH1


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## Gramsci (Dec 17, 2015)

editor said:


> Some more archive photos from a decade ago:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Depressing how many of the endangered species are now extinct. Or soon to be - Brixton Station road.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 18, 2015)

if this thread will stretch as far as stockwell...

happy 125th birthday, northern line

(or at least the city & south london railway bit of it)






(courtesy of this here tweet by london transport museum)

and  at it celebrating by having a major operational balls-up this morning...


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## OGJC (Dec 20, 2015)

Good morning people, I have just spent a most entertaining hour, travelling back through some memories of youth. Let me introduce myself, I grew up in Brixton, with my siblings (Sunbury now: moved out here in 1995) From attending Stockwell Primary School, then St Helens, from being turfed out on a Sunday morning, with my sisters, to go to mass at 'Our Lady of the Rosary' (actually we converted the collection money into sweets, and spent the time in Angel Park, where we could see the church empty, then merge with the exit) my mind there even volunteered me that now the garden of the priests house (was Fr. O'Herphes then-no, not a typo) A couple of my sisters worked at Woolgars (a deli under the railway) My older brother started off pulling the market barrows out in the mornings.
  I arrived here, looking up the skinny white guy, who used to position himself outside the record shop, at the exit of Reliance Arcade,  opposite the Atlantic arcade but this was in my youth, which was the eighties, also: there was an old rasta, with walking stick, (would be very ancient by now) who used to particularly abuse taxi's. He used to frequent Landor Road (due to South Western Hospital having a unit there) we presumed he was one of their residents, but this would be about 82-83ish. We regularly attended Brockwell Park Lido, if you got there before 9am, it was free to get in back then, so we could definitely use all day in summer holidays, and get back home through Railton/ Atlantic road, too many sights and characters to list. There was also a residential unit on Stockwell road, opposite the skateboard park, where one resident would always be at the gate, asking if we had a fag (ignoring the fact that we weren't even teenagers)
   I still love going back to Brixton, from the moment I go up the steps at the Tube station, wondering which group is managing to make the most joyous noise today, if we'll be treated for the sight of a random Christian group exorcising demons from drunks, there is much more fish available in Brixton today, than there was then, it is an area in a constant state of flux. I left Brixton just before the arrival of the Portuguese and Spanish, but recall all riots( our first vdeo recorder was 'slightly' riot damaged) one of the most surreal sights I ever saw, was Brixton at 1am, the main road was lined with green police buses, or glazing vans, Colliers was reduced to an RSJ and rubble, while the market area on Atlantic road was serving as an impromptu rest area for the cops. The residents of Brixton, always keen to check in with a 'happening' were milling about, as they would on a Saturday afternoon, while groups of riot police stood, looking very unsure, as they fielded questions from some of Brixton finest. When I tell people now, where I grew up, they say "oh that must have been rough". Well no, Brixton was a fantastic place to grow up, I enjoyed my youth there, I appreciate the area more, now that I live away, and realise how utterly vanilla some places are.
PS can anyone tell me what ever happened to Pat, the stern old Irish woman who ran the Prince Albert? If she didn't want you in that pub, she could get from the bar to the door, in less time that an 'undesirable' could open the door 45°. She was old school  tough.


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## editor (Dec 20, 2015)

OGJC said:


> PS can anyone tell me what ever happened to Pat, the stern old Irish woman who ran the Prince Albert? If she didn't want you in that pub, she could get from the bar to the door, in less time that an 'undesirable' could open the door 45°. She was old school  tough.


Sad to say that Pat passed away in 2002.

Tribute to Pat Burke, landlady of the Prince Albert pub in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9 8TT
Tribute to Pat Burke, landlady of the Prince Albert pub in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9 8TT - comments from the urban75 bulletin board, May 2002
Pat Burke: in memory of Brixton's finest landlady


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## editor (Jan 6, 2016)

Brixton 10 years ago:

















Brixton Ten Years Ago: police signs, Fridge club, market scenes and the Phoenix cafe


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## editor (Jan 14, 2016)

A steam loco called Brixton. 






A charming little Victorian steam locomotive called Brixton


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## Rushy (Jan 14, 2016)

Does anyone have a shot gun I can borrow? I need to blast a pair of screeching squirrels through my ceiling.


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## SpamMisery (Jan 14, 2016)

I'm glad you recorded that story of historical note. Future generations will seat you alongside Herodotus and Starkey


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## teuchter (Jan 14, 2016)

Rushy said:


> Does anyone have a shot gun I can borrow? I need to blast a pair of screeching squirrels through my ceiling.


squirrel predators uk - Google Search


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## Rushy (Jan 14, 2016)

teuchter said:


> squirrel predators uk - Google Search


Thanks. But I just want to shoot them. Through the ceiling. I know that will make me feel better.


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## CH1 (Jan 14, 2016)

Rushy said:


> Does anyone have a shot gun I can borrow? I need to blast a pair of screeching squirrels through my ceiling.


Didn't take photos, but in 2007 I watched whilst a family of owls were likewise ill-treated.
I never quite got over it. Bit off topic, more hisotric than the above.


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## Rushy (Jan 14, 2016)

CH1 said:


> Didn't take photos, but in 2007 I watched whilst a family of owls were likewise ill-treated.
> I never quite got over it. Bit off topic, more hisotric than the above.


Oops. Just realised I'm in the wrong thread.  Anyway. These feckers are asking for it.


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## Angellic (Jan 14, 2016)

CH1 said:


> Didn't take photos, but in 2007 I watched whilst a family of owls were likewise ill-treated.
> I never quite got over it. Bit off topic, more hisotric than the above.



Owls!


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## stdP (Jan 14, 2016)

This is probably the least relevant bit of Brixton history ever, but a friend and I were discussing the shops we remembered from the high street and coldharbour line since we moved into the area circa 2000, many of which now swept away (as an aside, many thanks editor for all of your Brixton X Years Ago stories, proved invaluable)... but can anyone remember what was at 506-508 brixton road before Speedy Noodle...?!


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## Winot (Jan 14, 2016)

stdP said:


> This is probably the least relevant bit of Brixton history ever, but a friend and I were discussing the shops we remembered from the high street and coldharbour line since we moved into the area circa 2000, many of which now swept away (as an aside, many thanks editor for all of your Brixton X Years Ago stories, proved invaluable)... but can anyone remember what was at 506-508 brixton road before Speedy Noodle...?!



Another takeaway place IIRC - Kings Rice or something like that. Better than SN.


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## editor (Jan 14, 2016)

stdP said:


> This is probably the least relevant bit of Brixton history ever, but a friend and I were discussing the shops we remembered from the high street and coldharbour line since we moved into the area circa 2000, many of which now swept away (as an aside, many thanks editor for all of your Brixton X Years Ago stories, proved invaluable)... but can anyone remember what was at 506-508 brixton road before Speedy Noodle...?!


How far back are you going? 







The Brixton apocalypse begins as Foxtons arrive on Brixton Road


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## stdP (Jan 14, 2016)

editor said:


> How far back are you going?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



We looked at that very article  Sadly I don't remember ever visiting this establishment for a new fur coat, although I could do with a girdle  We were just trying to piece together all the stuff we could remember going to about 2000... knew there was something there before Speedy Noodle but not sufficiently distinct for us to remember it (which makes Winot's observation of another pan-asian takeaway place sound immensely feasible)... dusty stirrings say it might have been a take-out place that was open quite late, because when I did pick up a takeaway in Brixton I would usually grab the pepper salmon from That Place With The Enthusiastically Cheerful Chinese Lady That Got Redone As 'Gyoza' Near The Albert but that closed earlier. I could of course be mis-remembering the whole thing...


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## CH1 (Jan 14, 2016)

stdP said:


> This is probably the least relevant bit of Brixton history ever, but a friend and I were discussing the shops we remembered from the high street and coldharbour line since we moved into the area circa 2000, many of which now swept away (as an aside, many thanks editor for all of your Brixton X Years Ago stories, proved invaluable)... but can anyone remember what was at 506-508 brixton road before Speedy Noodle...?!


It was originally a Wimpey bar in 1979, which then transformed into a café (i.e. left the Wimpey franchise). The owner was a gay Cypriot called "Stephen" who was friendly with Canon Walker - the first chair of the Community/police Consultative Group for Lambeth. Maybe Father Walker was his confessor. Stephen favoured emaciated looking young men, whose he would employ as waiters in the cafe.  Unfortunately he was an early victim of AIDS.

How do I know all this? Because I used to live in Effra Court, as did the local postman who was the worst gossip I've ever met. Stephen the cafe proprietor had one of the two top floor balcony flats in Effra Court. Very nice too - as I know from being invited to soirées at the other balcony flat which belonged to a stockbroker.

Regarding the cafe/Speedy Noodle there was also a halal burger bar there in the mid 1990s before Speedy Noodle.

You did ask.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 14, 2016)

Brixton 1938

posted on tweeter today by @robnitm



(bus route 45 then is not the same as today's bus route 45 in case you're wondering - i think that incarnation of route 45 was withdrawn as part of the wartime reductions)


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## friendofdorothy (Jan 14, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Brixton 1938
> 
> posted on tweeter today by @robnitm
> 
> ...



I see there were 'we buy gold shops' back then too


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## Rushy (Jan 15, 2016)

Winot said:


> Another takeaway place IIRC - Kings Rice or something like that. Better than SN.


Kings Rice'n'Spice.
I seem to recall that it was the law that you must stop there on the way home from the Dog Star.
"Pan Asian" is a generous description.

It closed a little after 9/11 and a friend in the special forces told me it had been money laundering for al-Qaida. No idea whether there's any truth in that.


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## Winot (Jan 15, 2016)

Rushy said:


> money laundering



Good to hear that at least something there was clean.


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## ringo (Jan 15, 2016)

Rushy said:


> Kings Rice'n'Spice.
> I seem to recall that it was the law that you must stop there on the way home from the Dog Star.
> "Pan Asian" is a generous description.
> 
> It closed a little after 9/11 and a friend in the special forces told me it had been money laundering for al-Qaida. No idea whether there's any truth in that.



I used to love that place


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## editor (Jan 18, 2016)

Brixton 15 years ago:






In photos: Brixton 15 years ago; Copbusters, Escape From Samsara and some street shots, January 2001


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## CH1 (Jan 18, 2016)

Rushy said:


> Kings Rice'n'Spice.
> I seem to recall that it was the law that you must stop there on the way home from the Dog Star.
> "Pan Asian" is a generous description.
> 
> It closed a little after 9/11 and a friend in the special forces told me it had been money laundering for al-Qaida. No idea whether there's any truth in that.


I don't remember it as asian at all. Somali more like. Possibly that accounts for the throwaway comment above. After all there's been a lot of trouble with little Somali money transfer shops -  such as the one opposite the Barrier Block.

Whereas those running HSBC, noted for its active South American money laundering operations, are no doubt in the queue for peerages and MBEs.


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## stdP (Jan 19, 2016)

CH1 said:


> You did ask.



I did indeed, and very happy with the answer - cheers for what sounds like a description worthy of a particularly vivid eastenders storyline  Love the avatar by the way, "questions are a burden to others, answers a prison for oneself" 

Scouring the boards also revealed these posts from Rushy and Ms Ordinary also talking about Speedy Noodle/Kings Rice'n'Spice; it sounds like I was either, uh, more chemically imbalanced than I thought when I went there, or I never actually went there at all...

Incidentally in looking for pics I found this treasure trove of shop fronts... none of the main drag but interesting nontheless:
SW2 | Shopfront Elegy
SW9 | Shopfront Elegy


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## editor (Jan 19, 2016)

stdP said:


> Incidentally in looking for pics I found this treasure trove of shop fronts... none of the main drag but interesting nontheless:
> SW2 | Shopfront Elegy
> SW9 | Shopfront Elegy


Great site that.


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## CH1 (Jan 19, 2016)

stdP said:


> I did indeed, and very happy with the answer - cheers for what sounds like a description worthy of a particularly vivid eastenders storyline  Love the avatar by the way, "questions are a burden to others, answers a prison for oneself"
> 
> Scouring the boards also revealed these posts from Rushy and Ms Ordinary also talking about Speedy Noodle/Kings Rice'n'Spice; it sounds like I was either, uh, more chemically imbalanced than I thought when I went there, or I never actually went there at all...
> 
> ...


Shame abourt the Old Calcutta. I thought the original decor was much better than the present makeover.
I am not sure that it changed hands either - could have been just a refit.

The staff in the Old Calcutta definitely had no connection with Calcutta by the way. Kashmir more like.


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## Tricky Skills (Jan 19, 2016)

HONKNG CH1 over here. DELICIOUS.



Expecting similar scenes at Full Council next week, Comrades.


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## CH1 (Jan 20, 2016)

Tricky Skills said:


> HONKNG CH1 over here. DELICIOUS.
> 
> Expecting similar scenes at Full Council next week, Comrades.



This is a valuable record of the time - was it stored in an attic somewhere? Thanks for posting - your efforts are "indefatigable"

I can't see that there would be similar scenes today at all - Labour/trade union solidarity has been neutralised.

There were several speakers on that film who were true believers (ordinary people not Ted Knight). Trained in the rhetoric in the same way as an evangelical might be trained to quote phrases from the bible.

I just don't see that nowadays at all. People now are more out to look after their own particular issues. Solidarity about "council services" as a whole went out in 1990.

Since the demise of Ted Knight I can't think of a campaign against cuts led by Lambeth Council, can you?


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## Tricky Skills (Jan 20, 2016)

The only 'campaign' that I can think of is the PR campaign.

Words, not actions.


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## CH1 (Jan 20, 2016)

Tricky Skills said:


> The only 'campaign' that I can think of is the PR campaign.
> Words, not actions.


Seems more like the battle of the media consultants there.

As my antiquity advances I yearn for reality politics - and religion. 
We used to have a fabulous hell-fire preaching vicar - Rev Dennis Petersen at St Judes in Dulwich Road.

The diocese got cheesed off with his maverick sermonising ("The devil is stalking the streets of Brixton!" etc) and they closed the church and sold it off to Budget Furniture. 
 
Meanwhile the case of Steve Reed - the media savvy council leader made enough impression to get a safe parliamentary seat.
These days making a fuss in public gets you on in politics, whereas in the Church of England it gets you pensioned off.


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## Tricky Skills (Jan 20, 2016)

That Lambeth PR campaign was just that. Fur coat, no knickers. Oh woe is us. Those nasty Coalition partners. Let's put up some posters to let residents know that we are hurting, but not fighting.

Meanwhile the Progress MP for Croydon North / Lambeth South is sitting in the political long grass, playing along with that nice Mr Corbyn and waiting for his moment.

Which may never come now.

Give me the Devil over Budget Furniture any day.


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## boohoo (Jan 31, 2016)

Looking in Brixton 1881 census, there were 6 gypsy caravans on Ridgway Road - all listed as licenced hawkers. Seem to be mainly from one family (Collins)


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## editor (Feb 4, 2016)

Brixton ten years ago:











Brixton Ten Years Ago: busy market scenes and changing times, February 2006


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## peterkro (Feb 4, 2016)

^^ That piece of Bobby Sands graffiti lasted well,most of it unreadable in 2006 but it had been there 25 years by then,thumbs up to Leyland masonry paint.


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## dbs1fan (Feb 4, 2016)

Ooooh- where is/was the Bobby Sands graffiti?


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## peterkro (Feb 4, 2016)

dbs1fan said:


> Ooooh- where is/was the Bobby Sands graffiti?


On the outside of the stair wells on the carpark,it was Bobby Sands in large letters IRA and INLA in smaller.


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## dbs1fan (Feb 4, 2016)

Thanks! FFS it was big enough- can't believe I'd forgotten it. Good reminder.


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## editor (Mar 1, 2016)

Brixton ten years ago:


















Brixton Ten Years Ago: the last hours of The Queen pub, Loughborough Junction and street scenes, March 2006


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## editor (Mar 15, 2016)

Brixton in 2001





















Brixton 15 Years Ago: market scenes, the old car park and a cop getting a slapped arse – March 2001 photos


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## CH1 (Mar 15, 2016)

editor said:


> Brixton in 2001
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Pity that Policeman has gone - his exposure might have been even more appropriate now, considering the land ownership in the immediate vicinity.


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 15, 2016)

on flickr today -

"Post WWII , buses and caravans are temporary homes in Canterbury Crescent , Brixton"


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## editor (Apr 7, 2016)

A bit of Brixton history. Makes me go "eek!" when I realised that 1978 is 38 years ago.






Brixton History: Prize Bingo, KFC and the Atlantic pub, Coldharbour Lane 1978


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 7, 2016)

another one on Flickr today



1904 or a few years after


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## editor (Apr 8, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> another one on Flickr today
> 
> 
> 
> 1904 or a few years after



Good find! I've written a fairly long piece here using similar views;






Brixton history: The rise and fall of Quin & Axtens bazaar and department store on Brixton Road


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## MrSki (Apr 8, 2016)

Brixton fire station 1890.

From the BBC website here


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## GarveyLives (Apr 11, 2016)

GarveyLives said:


> *Arguably more fascinating than repeated reminiscing about imperial, colonial Brixton, would be to hear the stories of those with whom Lord Scarman met 34 years after his visit.*​


​




*Brixton, 10-12 April 2016*​



*"Vibrant" Brixton, April 2016*​


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## editor (Apr 14, 2016)

Brixton April 2006:











Brixton Ten Years Ago: The long lost J Bar, Loughborough House and Jerk Centre, April 2006


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## Orang Utan (Apr 14, 2016)

GarveyLives said:


> *Brixton, 10-12 April 2016*​
> 
> 
> 
> *"Vibrant" Brixton, April 2016*​


What's the context here? 
The guy on the left is giving the speaker a sideways glance,  but the speaker is talking into a mike, so of course he'd look to see what the commotion was


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## editor (Apr 14, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> What's the context here?
> The guy on the left is giving the speaker a sideways glance,  but the speaker is talking into a mike, so of course he'd look to see what the commotion was


I can't speak for the poster and I don't gett he comparison being made here, but what struck me was that the various responses to the busker who was joyfully singing his heart out. Most seemed to smile or maybe do a little dance when they went by, while others looked at him quite differently. Make what you will of that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 14, 2016)

editor said:


> I can't speak for the poster and I don't gett he comparison being made here, but what struck me was that the various responses to the busker who was joyfully singing his heart out. Most seemed to smile or maybe do a little dance when they went by, while others looked at him quite differently. Make what you will of that.


OK,  but it's not clear from the photo what the guy on the mike is doing. He could be shouting obscenities or bashing the Bible. The look the other guy is giving him is impossible to read.


----------



## editor (Apr 14, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> OK,  but it's not clear from the photo what the guy on the mike is doing. He could be shouting obscenities or bashing the Bible. The look the other guy is giving him is impossible to read.


It would have helped if a link to the photo piece had been included: Brixton Buskers: the soulful singer outside the tube station


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 16, 2016)

recent on Flickr - new dustcarts outside the town hall, 1938


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 21, 2016)




----------



## friendofdorothy (Apr 23, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


>



when is that from?


----------



## fishfinger (Apr 23, 2016)

friendofdorothy said:


> when is that from?


It's probably the '60s.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 23, 2016)

friendofdorothy said:


> when is that from?


 
dunno.  that's not me on flickr...

can find what looks like the same photo elsewhere online dated April 1950


----------



## fishfinger (Apr 23, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> dunno.  that's not me on flickr...
> 
> can find what looks like the same photo elsewhere online dated April 1950


I don't think that is correct, as rubberised asphalt wasn't in use until the 1960s (first used in Phoenix Arizona).

Hmmm... You may be correct after all. As I am finding conflicting info.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 23, 2016)

fishfinger said:


> I don't think that is correct, as rubberised asphalt wasn't in use until the 1960s (first used in Phoenix Arizona).


 
dunno.

stuff does get dated wrong online, even in proper photo archives. 

And wikipedia isn't always right either.

Lambeth Archives say it was 1937 (didn't find it at first search)

Acre Lane wasn't a tram route, so the absence of tram rails doesn't help.

Registration KGP xxx on the roller would have been about 1949 / 50 so I don't believe Lambeth.


----------



## fishfinger (Apr 23, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> dunno.
> 
> stuff does get dated wrong online, even in proper photo archives.
> 
> ...


I was wrong, as there were rubberised road/pavements a long time ago. I believe that the 1960s was when they first started using recycled tyre rubber in the asphalt.


----------



## Twattor (Apr 25, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> dunno.
> 
> stuff does get dated wrong online, even in proper photo archives.
> 
> ...



The photo is taken from Ashmere Grove - you can see the Sunlight Laundry building opposite and the Hope and Anchor to the left of picture.  According to Wikipedia the Sunlight building was completed 1937 which may explain the date on the Lambeth Archives, but from the weathered facade I'd say it had been around for a good few years before this photo was taken.


----------



## editor (May 4, 2016)

The Palladium cinema (later to become the Fridge/Electric) 

Palladium Cinema and Fridge nightclub (Brixton Ace, ABC ), Brixton Hill, Brixton. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2


----------



## Casaubon (May 13, 2016)

I've just watched The Ploughman's Lunch (1983), which includes a few fleeting shots of Brixton at the time. 

Dunn & Co, which was burnt down in the '85 riots. 


The pavement by the tube, with the entrance to what's now Iceland.
Fuckin' hipsters everywhere.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 21, 2016)

slightly outside Brixton (although the tram will pass through Brixton on its way to central London)



at Streatham High Road going through the 'change pit' where trams changed from getting power via the overhead wire to the conduit system where the tram got power from underground live rails via a slot rail between the two running lines.

The tram will be moving very slowly here while the change pit attendant slides a 'plough' (this is how the tram made contact with the electric rails) under the tram.  The conductress is holding on to the trolley rope ready to pull the pole down as soon as the plough is in place.


----------



## boohoo (May 21, 2016)

editor said:


> View attachment 86506
> 
> The Palladium cinema (later to become the Fridge/Electric)
> 
> Palladium Cinema and Fridge nightclub (Brixton Ace, ABC ), Brixton Hill, Brixton. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2



That is a fabulous picture!


----------



## editor (May 21, 2016)

More trams!


----------



## editor (May 21, 2016)

And here's an 1895 shot of a tram in Brixton Road.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 21, 2016)

editor said:


> And here's an 1895 shot of a tram in Brixton Road.
> 
> View attachment 87344


 
whoever has dated that at 1895 is a few years adrift - that's an electric tram, and the Brixton route was not electrified until 1904 (hence my dating picture of post 697) - having the route description painted on the end (the words 'Kennington Brixton Streatham' above the driver) did not last long, as it tied each tram to a specific route, so the picture isn't long after 1904.

Above the destination box (the bit showing 'Brixton Station') are three lights - these showed a different combination for each route of up to 3 coloured lights by night, to make it easier to identify an approaching tram.  The LCC gave up on this in 1913 when they introduced route numbers.


----------



## CH1 (May 21, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> whoever has dated that at 1895 is a few years adrift - that's an electric tram, and the Brixton route was not electrified until 1904 (hence my dating picture of post 697)


How did it all work then? I thought the first trams worked by clamping onto a moving cable in a slot beneath the road.
And I also thought that electric trams had overhead power and a pantograph pick-up.

There is definitely no pantograph in that image - and no overhead power line.

Are you saying that these were on an electrified rail system? If so was it low voltage - or if high voltage how were people & horses etc protected from accidental shock?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 22, 2016)

CH1 said:


> How did it all work then? I thought the first trams worked by clamping onto a moving cable in a slot beneath the road.
> And I also thought that electric trams had overhead power and a pantograph pick-up.
> 
> There is definitely no pantograph in that image - and no overhead power line.
> ...


 
Cable trams were quite a rarity - from memory, apart from Brixton Hill, cable trams ran in Matlock and on Highgate Hill, Edinburgh was about the only network of cable routes in the UK.  Most tramways started on the basis of the horse as motive power.

most electric trams used an overhead wire, with a 'trolley pole' or (generally later) a pantograph - or an intermediate 'bow collector'.

Britain's first electric trams (Blackpool, 1885) used a conduit system, similar to that adopted (1903 onward) by the London County Council. 

The live rails were about a foot below road level, in a conduit (similar to that used by a cable tram) - the tram getting at them with a plough that was in electrical connection with the tram.  More here.

Road users would not have been in any danger unless they prodded around down the conduit slot with something metal, although the slot was wide enough for some bicycles to get stuck in them.   Blackpool's system suffered through sea-water in the conduit, and they converted the whole thing to overhead wire somewhere around the turn of the century.

The LCC's original trams (as in the 1904-ish picture) were built for conduit operation only - later extensions to the system, and where the LCC ran through on to other operators' territory (e.g. Croydon Corporation, which extended as far north as Norbury) were on overhead wires so most LCC trams built after about 1910 could run on either - there was a switch to tell the tram where to get its current from.

In London, trams on many routes changed between conduit and overhead at 'change pits' - see post 717.

The advantage that conduit had (in terms of less visual clutter) was at a significantly higher construction and maintenance cost.


----------



## Casaubon (May 23, 2016)

I was thinking of putting these pics in ‘Post Up Your Old Family Shots’, but this thread seems to extend to Streatham, so I’ll put them here. 
Apologies if I'm straying too far south.

In 1947-8 my dad was ‘Floor Manager & Instructor’ at Streatham ice rink. 

 


 

Here he's with all the instruction staff (6th from the right) in September 1948.


Ice hockey was fairly big in those days. The presence of large numbers of players and fans among wartime and post-war allied troops, especially Canadians, had really lifted the game. It’s played in 3 periods of 20 minutes, and entertainments would be laid on between periods.

Here my dad’s taking part in a comedy sketch dressed as a copper, with colleagues dressed as Prince Monolulu and a spiv.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 28, 2016)

another recent one on Flickr



described as 'morning rush hour looking South'

early / mid 70s (after 1972 when the P4 route was introduced with Ford Transit buses)


----------



## editor (May 28, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> another recent one on Flickr
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I miss Woolies.


----------



## editor (May 28, 2016)

Already broken!


----------



## friendofdorothy (May 28, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> another recent one on Flickr
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I was so glad when they removed that irritating fence in the middle of the road.


----------



## GarveyLives (Jun 4, 2016)

*When Muhhammad Ali brought Brixton to a standstill in 1974*







*Muhammad Ali meets the children of Brixton, February 1999*

*Muhammad Ali
17 January 1942 - 3 June 2016
Rest in Peace*​


----------



## D.Woods (Jun 14, 2016)

Hi, I am in the process of researching for my next novel. My couple will be living in Brixton in 1875, specifically on Loughborough Road. Any general info on that area, or images, would be invaluable to me. I have been reading through these threads but not sure on exact locations or dates. Thank you.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Jun 14, 2016)

D.Woods said:


> Hi, I am in the process of researching for my next novel. My couple will be living in Brixton in 1875, specifically on Loughborough Road. Any general info on that area, or images, would be invaluable to me. I have been reading through these threads but not sure on exact locations or dates. Thank you.


why there then?


----------



## CH1 (Jun 14, 2016)

D.Woods said:


> Hi, I am in the process of researching for my next novel. My couple will be living in Brixton in 1875, specifically on Loughborough Road. Any general info on that area, or images, would be invaluable to me. I have been reading through these threads but not sure on exact locations or dates. Thank you.


I'm no expert but in my opinion the only seriously built up part of Loughborough Road in 1875 were the terraces between Fiveways and LJ station bridge (now mostly gone of course)

I would imagine that the bit of Loughborough Road between Fiveways and Brixton Road would have been either under construction or market gardens etc in 1875, except possibly some of the shops which seem slightly earlier in date.

If you are really wanting intimate historical detail about Loughborough Road you need to contact lady called Tracey Gregory, who gave a talk on this topic at the last Lambeth Archives open day. Maybe the archivist can put you in touch - but whether you can get in touch with the archivist is another matter when Lambeth libraries are in transition..............


----------



## editor (Jun 16, 2016)

Brixton 15 years ago
















Brixton Fifteen Years Ago: a wet Brockwell Park festival, and the end of The Voice, Cooltan and the J Bar, June 2001


----------



## CH1 (Jun 16, 2016)

editor said:


> Brixton 15 years ago
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That top picture is appropriate in retrospect - although the poster actually referred to a Channel 5 game show hosted by Jerry Sprnger apparently.


----------



## MrSki (Jun 16, 2016)

D.Woods said:


> Hi, I am in the process of researching for my next novel. My couple will be living in Brixton in 1875, specifically on Loughborough Road. Any general info on that area, or images, would be invaluable to me. I have been reading through these threads but not sure on exact locations or dates. Thank you.


Isn't there a Sherlock Holmes novel set in and around that date on Loughborough Road? My memory might be failing me but it is one of the early stories in the complete works of SH


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 16, 2016)

MrSki said:


> Isn't there a Sherlock Holmes novel set in and around that date on Loughborough Road? My memory might be failing me but it is one of the early stories in the complete works of SH


I think so.
Brixton's mentioned quite a bit. Stockwell too.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 16, 2016)

MrSki said:


> Isn't there a Sherlock Holmes novel set in and around that date on Loughborough Road? My memory might be failing me but it is one of the early stories in the complete works of SH


 


Orang Utan said:


> I think so.
> Brixton's mentioned quite a bit. Stockwell too.


 
from memory...

the 'Study in Scarlet' (the first case recorded by Dr Watson) started in Brixton

in 'The Sign of Four', SH shows a very detailed knowledge of south London (knowing exactly what roads the cab is going along) in a ride in a four-wheeler which passes along Cold Harbour Lane (among other streets)

following 'The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax' she was found in Brixton

SH visits Brixton (although briefly) in investigating 'The Naval Treaty', one of the key events in 'The Blue Carbuncle' took place in Brixton, although SH did not have to visit, and three of the 'Six Napoleons' were bought in Kennington and at least one was in Brixton.

The Norwood Builder lived not far away, 'the Yellow Face' was seen in Norbury, the 'Cardboard Box' was delivered to Croydon, and the 'Beryl Coronet' was stolen from Streatham

The 'Retired Colourman' lived in Lewisham, and 'The Man with the Twisted Lip' in Lee.


----------



## MrSki (Jun 16, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> from memory...
> 
> the 'Study in Scarlet' (the first case recorded by Dr Watson) started in Brixton
> 
> ...


Fuck me backwards through a hedge but I am impressed.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 16, 2016)

I think SH's client in 'The Case of Identity' may also have lived in Brixton but would have to go and look that up.

To conclude the south London / north Kent angle, the Abbey Grange was near Chislehurst, the Greek Interpreter did his interpreting in Beckenham, and the Bruce Partington Plans should have been in Woolwich.

I don't think many cases took place in North London (as opposed to central London) - Charles Augustus Milverton lived in Hampstead and the Three Gables was in Harrow.

Dr Watson also had south london connections before he met SH, having played rugby for Blackheath in his younger days.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jun 16, 2016)

Isn't Catford mentioned at some point too?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 16, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Isn't Catford mentioned at some point too?


 
Not that I can remember. (and a web search on Sherlock Holmes Catford doesn't come up with anything relevant)

Another couple of locations that have occurred to me are that the client suspected of murdering The Norwood Builder lived in Blackheath, and the client involved in Wisteria Lodge lived in Lee (although Wisteria Lodge was near Oxshott in Surrey)

I am only thinking about the cases recorded by Dr Watson and published by Arthur Conan-Doyle, of course.  There are probably now considerably more cases that have been recorded by others - also the ITV series in the 80s, while being very true to the spirit of the originals, did take some liberties with a few of the original stories and did move the locations of one or two.

ETA - I've looked it up, and SH's client in 'The Case of Identity' lived in Camberwell, not Brixton.  Camberwell was also where Mary Morstan (later to be Mrs Watson) was living at the start of The Sign of Four


----------



## Casaubon (Jun 17, 2016)

D.Woods said:


> Hi, I am in the process of researching for my next novel. My couple will be living in Brixton in 1875, specifically on Loughborough Road. Any general info on that area, or images, would be invaluable to me. I have been reading through these threads but not sure on exact locations or dates. Thank you.




Alan Godfrey Maps sells reprints of old Ordnance Survey maps for the bargain price of £3 plus £1.50 p&p.

These two should give you a nice idea of what the area was like at the time:

London Sheet 102.1  Camberwell & Stockwell 1871

London Sheet 116.1  Brixton & Herne Hill 1870 (I've got this one, it's got loads of interesting detail).

The Godfrey Edition - Old Ordnance Survey Maps - Index

You might also find the British Libraries online Fire Insurance Maps useful - discussed on this thread:
fire insurance maps online
This one of central Brixton has loads of detail, but I'm not sure of the date - http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/firemaps/england/london/htok/zoomify152895.html


----------



## Ol Nick (Jun 17, 2016)

editor said:


> Brixton 15 years ago


Are you seriously claiming that 15 years ago was only 2001? Surely 15 years is more like, I dunno, 1983.


----------



## editor (Jul 6, 2016)

Brixton 15 years ago: 






Brixton 15 Years Ago: Howes on Atlantic Road (later Kaff and Dip & Flip) – July 2001 photos


----------



## editor (Jul 14, 2016)

Brixton ten years ago:











Brixton Ten Years Ago: Flying motorbikes, jousting and the Country Show, July 2006


----------



## CH1 (Jul 24, 2016)

I was a bit surprised that this event got no local publicity (at least not that I noticed)

I met one current councillor and one former councillor who were a this event to mark 30 years since Lambeth Rate Capping Rebel councillors - i.e. 99% of the ruling group at the time, were surcharged and disqualified from office.

Kudos to Lambeth Libraries for organising the event (at Clapham Library), but sorry not have been informed/inivted.
There are pictures floating around - surely Brixton Buzz must have a secret stash?

Apparently highlights were a fluent speech from Ted Knight - now possibly approaching his 80s - and also naturally from the ubiquitous John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 17, 2016)

on flickr today



former bus garage on Waterworks Road (still there the last time I looked)

Built early 20s by Cambrian Landray - one of the independent 'pirate' bus operators that took to London's streets post WW1.

Later used by London General then London Transport mainly for private hire coaches, and for stabling some Green Line coaches at the London end of the route.  LT sold it c. 1937.

Possibly the only remaining 'pirate' building left in London (not many of them even went in for permanent premises)


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 17, 2016)

CH1 said:


> I was a bit surprised that this event got no local publicity (at least not that I noticed)
> 
> I met one current councillor and one former councillor who were a this event to mark 30 years since Lambeth Rate Capping Rebel councillors - i.e. 99% of the ruling group at the time, were surcharged and disqualified from office.
> 
> ...




83, is Mr Knight, according to one of his Momentum colleagues.


----------



## CH1 (Aug 18, 2016)

ViolentPanda said:


> 83, is Mr Knight, according to one of his Momentum colleagues.


Still made a coherent speech at the event - albeit not with the passion of his 1980s rhetoric apparently.

On a related, but wildly different note - did you remember Margaret Wescott (maybe no longer with us as she was  born in 1922)
Margaret used to attend council meetings in the Ted Knight era and loudly heckle Ted from the public balcony whenever he rose to address the council.

I had thought this might have pissed Ted off somewhat, but he gave back as good as he got - and I was told he and Margaret had been known to share a drink in the Trinity after a council meeting.


----------



## editor (Aug 23, 2016)

Brixton ten years ago...






The old Albert fireplace!
















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Armed cops at the tube, King of Sardinia’s demise, party nights at the Albert and Jamm, August 2006


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 13, 2016)

on Flickr today - Brixton Autos, Brixton Hill - photo dated 1937



From the Wandsworth Borough (the pre 1965 borough that is) road sign, must be south of the Upper Tulse Hill junction - I'd say it's where the southern end Rush Common is now (old mapping here)

And wonder just how much demand there might have been for the shagged out bus...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 25, 2016)

today - Barrington Road, 1957


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 25, 2016)

and



(the Orange Coaches depot on Effra Road / now Windrush Square - looks like they tried turned it in to an amusement park in winter when there wasn't the demand for coaches)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 25, 2016)

and



1969, and a view of Gordon Grove leading up to Flaxman Road.


----------



## billythefish (Sep 26, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> and
> 
> 
> 
> (the Orange Coaches depot on Effra Road / now Windrush Square - looks like they tried turned it in to an amusement park in winter when there wasn't the demand for coaches)



You can just make out the Bovril ad on the building behind


----------



## T & P (Sep 26, 2016)

Elephant and Castle looked much nicer in the 1940s & 50s.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 29, 2016)

today's - a 1961 street scene


----------



## bimble (Sep 29, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> and
> 
> 
> 
> 1969, and a view of Gordon Grove leading up to Flaxman Road.




Brilliant - I can see my very windows, there they are, before i was even born.

Interesting that there's an open space there where the adventure playground on gordon grove currently still stands, on council land (waiting for offers from developers).
Does anyone know what that building on the right might have been - this one?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 29, 2016)

bimble said:


> Does anyone know what that building on the right might have been - this one?


 
if i've got the location right, then this (late 40s mapping) suggests part of a territorial army base

eta - the 1920s map shows it as HQ of 6th London Brigade, RFA (Royal Field Artillery) territorials - more about them here (they became 236 brigade in 1916)


----------



## bimble (Sep 29, 2016)

thank you.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 2, 2016)

A public lavatory (or at least a cast iron gents' urinal) outside the entrance to Brixton Station in Pope's Road, 1924

from a Historic England article about cottaging and so on (although not specifically mentioning this 'facility') - here

(cross piss posted from the thread about public bogs in brixton)

from what i can gather, this station building was flattened by WW2 bombing

note also the overhead electric wires on the railway line, at that time recently passed in to Southern Railway ownership from the London, Brighton & South Coast (the SR decided to standardise on the London & South Western's third rail system and the LBSCR suburban lines were later converted)

post-war map showing location (with station building marked as 'ruin') here - the bog not shown on earlier maps


----------



## CH1 (Oct 3, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> A public lavatory (or at least a cast iron gents' urinal) outside the entrance to Brixton Station in Pope's Road, 1924
> 
> from a Historic England article about cottaging and so on (although not specifically mentioning this 'facility') - here
> 
> ...


Thank you for this in depth research. I remember the Gents at Waterloo station with the gentlemen's barber by the way. I expect the barbers were there as a pre-electronic version of CCTV!


----------



## editor (Oct 3, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> A public lavatory (or at least a cast iron gents' urinal) outside the entrance to Brixton Station in Pope's Road, 1924
> 
> from a Historic England article about cottaging and so on (although not specifically mentioning this 'facility') - here
> 
> ...


I'm expanding this out to a hefty piece on Buzz where I've gone on to research the cast iron loos and the advertising in the background, so this bit of extra research will come in handy. I've been working at on for hours already!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 3, 2016)




----------



## editor (Oct 3, 2016)

Here's the finished article, with loads of obscure facts. I'd love to source other views of the old station building. 

Brixton history: Brixton’s old railway station, a cast iron loo and Branston Pickle


----------



## editor (Oct 3, 2016)

I just popped out to take a photo from a similar viewpoint today.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 3, 2016)

editor said:


> Here's the finished article, with loads of obscure facts. I'd love to source other views of the old station building.
> 
> Brixton history: Brixton’s old railway station, a cast iron loo and Branston Pickle


 


I've drawn a bit of a blank on this station building and what happened to it. 



bombsight and www.flyingbombsandrockets.com have not come up with anything - although Bombsight says it is a record of the main 1940-41 blitz (think there was some bombing although less intense at other times before the V1 / V2 campaign started).  

Kent Rail has a page on Brixton station and mentions the Southern Railway removing the 'Catford loop' platforms and part of the canopy in the 20s - and makes it fairly clear that some of the remaining structure is London, Chatham & Dover Railway (i.e. pre 1898 when it formed a joint management committee with its great rival the South Eastern Railway), but is a bit vague about anything else.

The trend towards demolishing huge station buildings and replacing them with something smaller and crap tended to be a bit later than the immediate pre-war years.

The principal history of the LCDR (Adrian Gray) also doesn't really come up with anything, although it only gives a fairly brief summary of events of the 20th century.  A few other books I've consulted also don't say anything on the subject.

The LCC bomb damage maps may be worth a look - some bits of this have been put online digitally (I suspect in some cases without the London Met Archives' permission) but couldn't find one of Brixton.  I haven't quite decided I need a copy at north of £ 30 yet...

(Incidentally, this has reminded me that I did promise a couple of articles for the historical bit of U75 a while back.  I haven't forgotten, just haven't really had the time this last year or two...)


----------



## RoyReed (Oct 4, 2016)

bombsite.org only records bombs larger than a certain size and doesn't record incendiaries at all. If it was hit with incendiaries I don't think there will be a record of it.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 6, 2016)

on a related note, this came up on tweeter today - blog about 1916 zeppelin raids on streatham and brixton

more here


----------



## Raymond Howard (Oct 21, 2016)

SarfLondoner said:


> This is intriguing stuff, Is it defiantly not Moorland and Coldharbour lane junction ?


----------



## CH1 (Oct 21, 2016)

SarfLondon is spot on, if his comment means all those Victorian streets leading north onto Coldharbour Lane then became the Moorlands Estate (and Southwyck House)




picture originally posted up by calno4


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 21, 2016)

CH1 said:


> SarfLondon is spot on, if his comment means all those Victorian streets leading north onto Coldharbour Lane then became the Moorlands Estate (and Southwyck House)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
this (post-war large scale OS map, courtesy of National Library of Scotland) may help - bottom left is 'change transparency of overlay' which means you can blend in / out of current day mapping.


----------



## editor (Oct 21, 2016)

CH1 said:


> SarfLondon is spot on, if his comment means all those Victorian streets leading north onto Coldharbour Lane then became the Moorlands Estate (and Southwyck House)
> 
> 
> 
> ...









The middle one is Geneva Road - I researched it a while ago and the article attracted a lot of replies: Lost streets of Brixton: Geneva Road, SW9


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 1, 2016)

another one of the Orange Luxury Coaches depot / coach station where Windrush Square is now


----------



## Leafster (Nov 2, 2016)

This came up on my twitter feed today


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 2, 2016)

.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 12, 2016)

today's



opposite the tram depot (demolished c. 1951) where Arriva's bus garage on Streatham Hill is now, with Pullman Court in the background.

The single deck tram is a snow-broom car - an old tram adapted with a thumping big revolving broom under each end to sweep snow off the tracks.

This particular one survived and was restored back to its passenger carrying form - it now lives at the tramway museum in Crich, Derbyshire -


----------



## editor (Nov 18, 2016)

Great set of 1980s Brixton pics here 











The squats and anarchists of Brixton in the 1980s – in photos


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 18, 2016)

RoyReed said:


> bombsite.org only records bombs larger than a certain size and doesn't record incendiaries at all. If it was hit with incendiaries I don't think there will be a record of it.



Never knew that.  I have a claim form of my grandad's for WWII damage, and despite searching V1/V2 site, could find no record of a bomb having dropped there


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 18, 2016)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Never knew that.  I have a claim form of my grandad's for WWII damage, and despite searching V1/V2 site, could find no record of a bomb having dropped there


The incendiary bombs were quite small - just over a foot long and weighing about 1kg.  A typical bomb load for Heinkel 111 might be 1,000 incendiaries and 20 x 50kg high explosive bombs. The incendiaries burnt hot enough to melt steel and when lodged in roof timbers burnt down at least as many buildings as those blown down by HE bombs.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 18, 2016)

RoyReed said:


> The incendiary bombs were quite small - just over a foot long and weighing about 1kg.  A typical bomb load for Heinkel 111 might be 1,000 incendiaries and 20 x 50kg high explosive bombs. The incendiaries burnt hot enough to melt steel and when lodged in roof timbers burnt down at least as many buildings as those blown down by HE bombs.



Don't suppose there's any page that lists them?  Guessing too many.maybe?


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 18, 2016)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Don't suppose there's any page that lists them?  Guessing too many.maybe?


Not as far as I know - there were millions of them - literally!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 18, 2016)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> Don't suppose there's any page that lists them? Guessing too many.maybe?


 
london metropolitan archives may have the info, but looks like it's not all online.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Nov 18, 2016)

Puddy_Tat said:


> london metropolitan archives may have the info, but looks like it's not all online.


Yeah, I've tried looking at old papers/news reports online but haven't found anything for that particular part of Herne Hill


----------



## RoyReed (Dec 3, 2016)

Some interesting archive images (668 if you search 'Brixton') at Collage - The London Picture Archive





 

You can zoom into the images if you visit their site.

Other parts of London are available.


----------



## editor (Dec 11, 2016)

Brixton ten years ago:












Brixton Ten Years Ago: Prince Albert and Jamm, carol singers, bands and crime, December 2006


----------



## editor (Dec 11, 2016)

Brixton 15 years ago












Brixton 15 years ago: Atlantic Road, lost shops, Alabama 3 and more: December 2001 photo


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 12, 2016)

editor said:


> Brixton 15 years ago
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The fountain- that should have been kept.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Dec 18, 2016)

RoyReed said:


> Some interesting archive images (668 if you search 'Brixton') at Collage - The London Picture Archive
> 
> View attachment 96529
> 
> ...


 Did marks and spencers have sales floors upstairs?


----------



## CH1 (Dec 18, 2016)

friendofdorothy said:


> Did marks and spencers have sales floors upstairs?


Not in my time (since 1978). Maybe they have  a company archive at HQ which could give you the answer. 
They used to be into community involvement - I remember they gave £5000 to the disabled training place which was at 336 Brixton Road around 1994.


----------



## Metroman (Dec 20, 2016)

M&S did have a trading floor upstairs, its been mention on here before, although it must have been pre 1970, cos I don't remember seeing it open

Happy Christmas all


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## RoyReed (Dec 27, 2016)

Brixton Station Road, 1940s_




_
A Flying bomb incident, showing bomb damage to terraced houses in Sandmere Road, Brixton on 1 July 1944

Here's What London Looked Like In The 1940s


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## editor (Dec 27, 2016)

A piece on Brixton JAMM/White Horse/Bar Lorca












In photos: Brixton Jamm (formerly the White Horse) as seen in Edwardian postcards


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## editor (Jan 18, 2017)

Brixton, ten years ago:

















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Afro Kinky, Cooltan, Reliance Arcade, Living Bar and some snow, January 2007


----------



## editor (Jan 22, 2017)

Brixton, 15 years ago:





















Brixton Fifteen Years Ago: Anarchy, purple car, Bradys, Pangaea and street scenes, January 2002


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 22, 2017)

from LCC Municipal on Tweeter


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 25, 2017)

on flickr today - London Country bus on Green Line, mid 70s


----------



## CH1 (Feb 26, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today - London Country bus on Green Line, mid 70s



The cones haven't changed much - just moved around!


----------



## editor (Feb 28, 2017)

Up for sale for an ambitious £499 is this Doulton pot for the South Metropolitan dairy

Superb  rare South Metropolitan dairy Brixton dairy cream pot cylinder Doulton  | eBay


----------



## editor (Mar 18, 2017)

Some 2002 views: 
















Brixton 15 years ago: Brian Paddick, Brockwell Park, Jacaranda Gardens and a trashed car, March 2002


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Mar 19, 2017)

robnitm on tweeter has these today - Coldharbour Lane, 1975


----------



## CH1 (Mar 19, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> robnitm on tweeter has these today - Coldharbour Lane, 1975


Brilliant. Just goes to show the values that operate in Metropolitan Housing Trust - they splendidly replicated the burnt down (1995) Barkers Furniture Store building (with flats above) - only to replace the shop with a cage for dumped cars. An example of mid 1990s housing policy at its most ludicrous.


----------



## Casaubon (Mar 20, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> robnitm on tweeter has these today - Coldharbour Lane, 1975



I stood on exactly this spot watching Barkers burn in the '85 riots. We legged it when the whole building started to collapse, and had to run the gauntlet of crazed and bewildered coppers up Coldharbour Lane.


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 24, 2017)

A picture of a 1933 coach that's appeared on Flickr today has led me to some digging -

As well as the Orange Luxury Coaches depot / coach station in Brixton (more or less where Windrush Square now is), there was also the 'London Terminal Coach Station' off Clapham Road near the Oval -






plenty more here

This opened in 1929, was built and operated by Blue Belle Motors Ltd, a subsidiary of Blue Belle Transport, based at 43-45 Acre Lane, Brixton

The frontage is where Europcar now trade (Street View here) - the depot behind was damaged by WW2 bombing, and Blue Belle did consider trying to develop it as an interchange point for goods vehicles (a concept that never really caught on)

It was partly later rebuilt as a motor dealers (Keith & Boyle Ltd, who dealt in Bedford / Vauxhalls from what was named 'Terminal House' - Keith & Boyle Ltd were, in turn, owners of Orange Luxury Coaches until Orange was sold to the Ewer Group in the 1950s) - the site was later developed for housing and is now Usborne Mews.

Blue Belle Transport were also dealers of goods vehicles -






(1925 advert from 'Graces Guide' website)

43 / 45 Acre Lane is currently / recently 'Diamond Hire / Merchants' (building up for sale last time I passed and on Street View)

I can feel another article for Urban coming on to add to the list of things I've promised Editor I'll do one of these days...


----------



## editor (Mar 25, 2017)

Brixton ten years ago:

























Brixton Ten Years Ago: They Want Your Pod, closed pubs,  Loughborough Junction, Herne Hill and street scenes, March 2007


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Mar 25, 2017)

editor said:


> Brixton ten years ago:



i find the first photo distressing

you should have covered the road accident victim with a sheet or something


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2017)

Some pics from 15 years ago











Does anyone know where this is? Was it the long gone Queen? 






Brixton 15 Years Ago: Brockwell Park, Railton Road and drugs, April 2002


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2017)

Raleigh College early 1900s (now the BCA).


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2017)

Bomb damage by the Academy 1940


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2017)

Get yer trubenised collars for 9d at Morleys!


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2017)

"Tonight there's going to be a jailbreak..."

 

29th May 1954


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2017)

1959 advert


----------



## editor (Apr 8, 2017)

Lovely set of upper quadrant semaphores here. Oh yes 

 
Brixton station 1957.


----------



## davesgcr (Apr 17, 2017)

editor said:


> Lovely set of upper quadrant semaphores here. Oh yes
> 
> View attachment 103885
> Brixton station 1957.




Splitting distants no less - very rare - none left anywhere to my knowledge - the last set was near Motherwell .....


----------



## davesgcr (Apr 17, 2017)

Looks like a Cricklewood working taking more domestic coal (though there is a vanfit there as well) , to feed the domestic coal yards of South London and the hungry domestic grates and boilers. Possibly down the Catford loop  - driver only has the home signal off and is no doubt gathering the train together for a check at the south end of Canterbury Road Junction , maybe bound for Beckenham Junction.


----------



## bimble (Apr 17, 2017)

Went to the Museum of London the other day and they have these paintings in their collection. The second one of the shopfront, is that where hip hop burger bar is now?


----------



## teuchter (Apr 17, 2017)

bimble said:


> The second one of the shopfront, is that where hip hop burger bar is now?



I don't think so. It's somewhere with a parade of shops set out from the main building line behind. The street going off in the background appears only to be single storey and I wonder if it's a railway viaduct. I was wondering if it could be the corner of Atlantic Rd and the high street. The building currently on that corner could have been built post 1948.


----------



## bimble (Apr 17, 2017)

the yellow shopfront behind looks like it maybe says David Grieg but we can't be looking at LJ can we?


----------



## teuchter (Apr 17, 2017)

No. Pretty sure it's corner of Atlantic Rd and Brixton Rd. See top photo here

Junction of Brixton Road and Atlantic Road, Brixton with old picture of Woolworths. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2

Also, it's just to the right of this view, where you can see the David Greig sign, I think:

Brixton, Atlantic Road c.1950 - Francis Frith


----------



## editor (Apr 17, 2017)

bimble said:


> the yellow shopfront behind looks like it maybe says David Grieg but we can't be looking at LJ can we?


David Greig had multiple stores around Brixton. I'm pretty sure that it's the old Woolworths building on the corner of Brixton Road/Atlantic Road.







Junction of Brixton Road and Atlantic Road, Brixton with old picture of Woolworths. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2

More about Greigs here: Wonderful old David Greig sign revealed at 232 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton


----------



## bimble (Apr 17, 2017)

Please tell me what the woolies shopfront said in full. Looks like 'nothing in these stores.."
Was it nothing is over £1 type thing? It is isn;t it. Nothing over 6.


----------



## editor (Apr 17, 2017)

bimble said:


> Please tell me what the woolies shopfront said in full. Looks like 'nothing in these stores.."
> Was it nothing is over £1 type thing?
> View attachment 104631


You can see it on the left hand side: "nothing in these stores over 6d."


----------



## CH1 (Apr 18, 2017)

bimble said:


> Went to the Museum of London the other day and they have these paintings in their collection. The second one of the shopfront, is that where hip hop burger bar is now?View attachment 104609
> View attachment 104612
> View attachment 104613
> View attachment 104614


Whilst you are on - is the write-up of the Atlantic Pub part of the museum of London exhibition?

Racist pubs - what are the actual facts? FWIR in 1981 the landlord of the Atlantic was Lloyd Leon - Labour Councillor of the Windrush generation and subsequently Mayor of Lambeth. Or am I wrong? I don't think Lloyd would have bee too keen on rioting. But a white landlord at the Atlantic breaking glasses which had been drunk from by a black person??

The generally attested "racist pub" seems to be the George in Railton Road - which was attacked and burnt down in 1981 presumably racsim being a factor. The landlady of the George was reported by many people as rascist and homophobic.

The Windsor Castle in Mayall Road (where Bob Marley Way now is) was also burnt down. The landlady - an elderly white lady - does not appear to have been thought of a racist. Her pub was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After the Windsor Castle was destroyed Dougie - the black landlord of the Green Man let the homeless landlady stay at the Green Man. So I hear.	 

Regarding Fake News and major historical errors in public exhibitions - I remember going to an exhibition about the history of London at the Chicago Public Library (rather grander than the Tate Brixton). 

There was a collage of pictures of the Crystal Palace - which according to the display had been bombed and destroyed by Hitler during World War II.

I drew the mistake to the attention of a librarian on duty - and she said she would make a note of it. But did they do anything about their "Fake News"?


----------



## editor (Apr 18, 2017)

CH1 said:


> But a white landlord at the Atlantic breaking glasses which had been drunk from by a black person??


That does seem a particularly expensive and illogical way to run a pub. Even for a racist. And if he was a steaming racist, why did the Atlantic remain so popular with black people? There was certainly plenty of alternative boozers around then.


----------



## bimble (Apr 18, 2017)

Yep I've no idea, that's the plaque that museum of London has stuck on the wall next to the drawing, seemed very odd.


----------



## teuchter (Apr 18, 2017)

I was puzzled by that plaque caption too, not just because it didn't match what I'd previously heard about the Atlantic but because the image itself hardly portrays a pub with a predominantly white clientele! It would be hard work being a racist landlord in there.


----------



## bimble (Apr 18, 2017)

Should i tell them they've messed it up? It was a little bit ramshackle i thought, the whole museum, but no funding crisis excuses Fake News.


----------



## happyshopper (Apr 18, 2017)

It's definitely where the O2 shop is now and Woolworth's was - you can just make out the gantries for the overhead wires that were on the railway viaduct to the left, from when they originally electrified the line. Means there's a fairly short period when it was painted.


----------



## Gramsci (Apr 20, 2017)

bimble said:


> Went to the Museum of London the other day and they have these paintings in their collection. The second one of the shopfront, is that where hip hop burger bar is now?View attachment 104609
> 
> View attachment 104612
> 
> ...



The drawing of the Atlantic pub is how I remember it. But the caption is seriously wrong. It was never attacked in 81 riots.


----------



## Gramsci (Apr 20, 2017)

bimble said:


> Should i tell them they've messed it up? It was a little bit ramshackle i thought, the whole museum, but no funding crisis excuses Fake News.



Yes.

History is a tricky thing. I wouldn't call this fake news. There is deliberate intention to fake news. They could have got oral history on the Atlantic but didn't do enough research to make sure it was reliable.


----------



## Gramsci (Apr 20, 2017)

bimble said:


> Went to the Museum of London the other day and they have these paintings in their collection. The second one of the shopfront, is that where hip hop burger bar is now?View attachment 104609
> 
> View attachment 104612
> 
> ...



The drawing of the Atlantic captures the atmosphere well. This was the public bar. You can tell from the floorboards. I used to use the Saloon bar sometimes. They did very good Guiness. The public bar was a bit lively.


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## bimble (Apr 20, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> The drawing of the Atlantic pub is how I remember it. But the caption is seriously wrong. It was never attacked in 81 riots.


ok. I will send an email and tell them that they seem to have made a mistake.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 20, 2017)

bimble said:


> Please tell me what the woolies shopfront said in full. Looks like 'nothing in these stores.."





editor said:


> You can see it on the left hand side: "nothing in these stores over 6d."



^ that.

My understanding is that Woolworths (in the US) sold stuff either for 5 or 10 cents (the '5 and dime' concept - not sure whether they started it) and when they moved to the UK stuff was either 3 or 6 old pence (6 old pence = 2 1/2 new pence)

More on all things Woolworths here 

and more about Brixton - one of the first six Woolworths in the UK, and the first in London, opened on 10 December 1910.



Gramsci said:


> History is a tricky thing. I wouldn't call this fake news. There is deliberate intention to fake news. They could have got oral history on the Atlantic but didn't do enough research to make sure it was reliable.



indeed. even in formal history, different sources give different opinions.


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## CH1 (Apr 21, 2017)

bimble said:


> Should i tell them they've messed it up? It was a little bit ramshackle i thought, the whole museum, but no funding crisis excuses Fake News.


You could ask about their source.

I sometimes go there for Gresham College lectures, but I can't remember ever going round the exhibits. Is that exhibition going to be on for a while?


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## bimble (Apr 21, 2017)

Yep, it's part of the permanent display i think (free entry). There's an area with bits and pieces telling about Notting Hill carnival and Brixton riots. I didn't expect the whole museum to have such a child-focussed way of telling stories but then it was full of children. Some interesting objects though throughout.


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## CH1 (Apr 21, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> Yes.
> 
> History is a tricky thing. I wouldn't call this fake news. There is deliberate intention to fake news. They could have got oral history on the Atlantic but didn't do enough research to make sure it was reliable.


 bimble 
*
FAKE NEWS*
Regarding Fake News - I think if you go back to my original post you will see I drew a comparison with an exhibition in Chicago where someone had jumped to the conclusion that the burning down of Crystal Palace had been the result of bombing in WWII.

I referred to this - jokingly - as Fake News since Fake News is the Mot du Jour so to speak.

*The Atlantic*
Not sure who was landllord before Lloyd Leon - but as far back as 1974 they were black.
There is an article here giving an account of racism and protests in south London pubs, including the George and the Atlantic.

Apartheid in London pubs

Interestingly prior to 1963 there had been demonstrations about racism in the Atlantic. Indeed until 1965 it was not illegal to refuse serve a black person on racial grounds.

Final point I certainly remember the Dpgstar being trashed in the 1995 riot - which again the blog refers to.

At the time elements of the black community expressed resentment that the Dogstar had been appropriated from the black community in an act of gentrification. Sorry if saying that offends some - but anyone who attended the Community Police Consultative Group meeting after the 1995 riot would have heard this point of view forcefully put by several people.

Finally - I reckon the Museum of London got their information from the blog above, probably. Just they have over-condensed it so giving a bit of a misleading impression of the timeline IMHO.


----------



## bimble (Apr 21, 2017)

Interesting. Their over-condensing so that crucial bits of the story are missed out might be because the museum is so very (too much imo) child-friendly but the way this was done it just didn't make sense, given the disconnect between the words and the picture, they did need to squeeze a bit more onto the plaque thing.
(and yes I think the term fake news should only be used ironically, seeing as propaganda or lies work fine for when its intentional).


----------



## editor (Apr 21, 2017)

CH1 said:


> At the time elements of the black community expressed resentment that the Dogstar had been appropriated from the black community in an act of gentrification. Sorry if saying that offends some - but anyone who attended the Community Police Consultative Group meeting after the 1995 riot would have heard this point of view forcefully put by several people.


I'm not sure why you think that would offend anyone seeing as it's common knowledge that the arrival of the _wine bar-esque_ Dogstar was seen as a bit of a slap in the face to the local community. I remember standing outside as it smouldered during the riots and seeing kids emerge triumphant with crates of booze!

Mind you, the Atlantic was in a real state towards the end. I remember a car crashing into its corner and being left there for days!


----------



## Gramsci (Apr 21, 2017)

CH1 said:


> bimble
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You are correct that is how sections of the Brixton Black community saw it at the time.

They also felt that Brixton Challenge grant that had been spent on Atlantic had ended up with the Atlantic being taken away from them. Brixton Challenge fund supposedly to help develop the area for benefit of local community.

Another thing that got up the Black communities nose was tacit support of the New Labour Council in letting this happen.

It was no accident the Dogstar got trashed. I was living nearby at time. Saw it happen. 

Justified imo.

Things to learn from this?

New Labour Council cannot see the difference between regeneration to benefit all the community and gentrification. 

They loved Dogstar Larry. Saw him as a thrusting young entrepreneur. All New Labour liked.

Not some old working class Black pub as the Atlantic was. Not there thing.

Secondly regeneration schemes need to have built in safeguards to make sure all the local community benefits in long term.


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## CH1 (Apr 21, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> They loved Dogstar Larry. Saw him as a thrusting young entrepreneur. All New Labour liked.


Him - I only knew him from from the thrust of his legal threats.

If you ever become a councillor please remember never to make an unguarded comment in a meeting when a thrusting young entrepreneur is there in the audience with his lawyer.

Councillors do not enjoy the same legal immunity as MPs.


----------



## Gramsci (Apr 21, 2017)

CH1 said:


> Him - I only knew him from from the thrust of his legal threats.
> 
> If you ever become a councillor please remember never to make an unguarded comment in a meeting when a thrusting young entrepreneur is there in the audience with his lawyer.
> 
> Councillors do not enjoy the same legal immunity as MPs.



That doesn't surprise me. He was very touchy. 

In some ways he came to Brixton to early. He saw himself as "regenerating" Brixton. A new breed of entrepreneur. Regarded me as the past. 

I joined Urban due to him. One of the ongoing battles with his growing entertainment empire. Brixton Forum was a lot different then. No one liked Larry.

This reminded of the battle to stop Larry turning the bike shop into a three floor entertainment complex. One of the battles at the frontline of gentrification we won. ( if in hindsight just a setback). Done with support of Urban75. I doubt there would be that kind of unanimous opposition now.

By that time we had managed to persuade One local Labour Cllr to oppose this. Which she stuck to despite knowing the leadership liked what Larry was doing.


----------



## editor (Apr 26, 2017)

Brixton Ten Years ago: 




























Brixton Ten Years Ago: Street and park scenes, the Camberwell Submarine and Pope’s Road car park, April 2007


----------



## editor (Apr 27, 2017)

The original Windmill looked a cracking pub! Here it is in winter 1969.


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## Puddy_Tat (May 6, 2017)

on flickr today - 



coldharbour lane, looking towards the junction with Denmark Hill, March 1951.  think all the buildings visible are still there - street view here

This was a 'change pit' where trams changed from overhead wire to 'conduit' (taking power from live rails in a slot under the road surface) - the man in the middle of the road is about to place a conduit 'plough' under the tram so it can continue towards central London


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## CH1 (May 6, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today -
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Curious about this - and thinking it might have been predecessor of bus 45 I googled a bit.
From this 'ere sigte it seems more analogous to bus 68 - West Norwood to somehwere in central London London 1940


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## Puddy_Tat (May 6, 2017)

CH1 said:


> Curious about this - and thinking it might have been predecessor of bus 45 I googled a bit.



Tram 48 ran from the 'Thurlow Arms' terminus at West Norwood, followed the current 68 bus route as far as  Tulse Hill, then via Milkwood Road (which does not have a bus service now) to Coldharbour Lane, then via Walworth Road, Borough High Street and Southwark Bridge to the 'City and Southwark' tram terminus.

Replacement bus 48 was extended to Cannon Street Station, but was withdrawn in a round of service cuts in 1958.  

Trams on the 48 ran from Norwood Tram depot - the building is still there - now Access Storage, next to the old fire station, it was never used as a bus garage (most of Norwood's routes moved to the then-new Stockwell bus garage) 

Current bus 45 was also a tram replacement route (although it's been altered several times since) - it replaced tram 34, Blackfriars - Camberwell - Brixton - Clapham - Battersea Bridge.

Bus route 68 has been around (at least as far south as Camberwell Green) since before the 1914 war (1911 picture here)


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## CH1 (May 6, 2017)

Brixton Fairies: Made Possible By Squatting

Apologies if this is a repost (could have been in a more specialised thread) - though I don't remember seeing precisely this compilation. The film was put together by Taha F Hassan and funded by Unite. There is an associated blog (no title)

The 33 minute film is a series of reminiscences by Gay men involved in the Brixton Gay Centre (78 Railton Road, in front of St Georges Residences and now demolished).
They also discuss life squatting on Railton Road, Mayall Road and activities within the gay politics community of the time.

It is noticeable by modern standards it's all about men, with a bit of drag thrown in. No Lesbians apparently.


----------



## teuchter (May 9, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> then via Milkwood Road (which does not have a bus service now)



Yeah

The Milkwood Rd Bus Chasm


----------



## editor (May 9, 2017)

Leafy Josephine Avenue, circa 1915


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## CH1 (May 9, 2017)

teuchter said:


> Yeah
> 
> The Milkwood Rd Bus Chasm


It would appear that from 1952 - 1966 LJ  Milkwood Road and Herne Hill were served by route 42 London Bus Route 42


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 11, 2017)

CH1 said:


> It is noticeable by modern standards it's all about men, with a bit of drag thrown in. No Lesbians apparently.



the amount of integration between the different bits of the 'LGB etc community' is variable even now (I use the 'etc' intentionally, as there's not a unanimous decision who else should be - or wants to be - included.  From what I gather, there wasn't that much common ground between lesbians and gay men until the thatcher era (section 28 and so on) led to a bit more intersectionality.  and for that matter, it's debatable whether there is even a single 'gay community'

As an aside (it has been mentioned on last month's brixton thread, but seems worth a mention here) there was an article in tame out a few weeks ago about the 1980s Brixton 'rebel dykes' community - they are apparently working on a film.


----------



## happyshopper (May 15, 2017)

One oddity about the tram route between Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill is that while it ran all along Milkwood Road southbound, going northbound it diverted through the backstreets, up Lowden Road and then (I think) Poplar Road, before rejoining Milkwood Road.


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## Puddy_Tat (May 15, 2017)

happyshopper said:


> One oddity about the tram route between Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill is that while it ran all along Milkwood Road southbound, going northbound it diverted through the backstreets, up Lowden Road and then (I think) Poplar Road, before rejoining Milkwood Road.



It was not that unusual a feature of trams - it tended to happen where there wasn't quite room for two tracks (one for each direction) - the alternative (which did happen in a few places in London) was a single track in the middle of the road (these sections were usually short enough to work on the basis that an approaching tram driver could see if another tram was already coming towards him and stop and wait if there was)

Another explanation for this sort of thing was to avoid a sharp corner

there were similar 'one way systems' on London tramways in Brockley (Shardloes Road / Malpas Road) and Woolwich (Grand Depot Road / Woolwich New Road, which is still followed by buses) and I think there were one or two in north London.


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## Puddy_Tat (May 15, 2017)

Another one on Flickr today - tram is heading south on Norwood Road at the junction of Trinity Rise


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## teuchter (May 16, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> It was not that unusual a feature of trams - it tended to happen where there wasn't quite room for two tracks (one for each direction) - the alternative (which did happen in a few places in London) was a single track in the middle of the road (these sections were usually short enough to work on the basis that an approaching tram driver could see if another tram was already coming towards him and stop and wait if there was)
> 
> Another explanation for this sort of thing was to avoid a sharp corner
> 
> there were similar 'one way systems' on London tramways in Brockley (Shardloes Road / Malpas Road) and Woolwich (Grand Depot Road / Woolwich New Road, which is still followed by buses) and I think there were one or two in north London.


Croydon tram works like that in central croydon nowadays too.


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## editor (May 23, 2017)

Ten years ago: 






















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Bus crash, tram exhibition, safari suits, Stewart Lee and more, May 2007


----------



## friendofdorothy (Jun 2, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today -
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I see Howard bros (isn't that the hardware shop?) was there back then and is still there.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Jun 2, 2017)

CH1 said:


> Brixton Fairies: Made Possible By Squatting
> 
> Apologies if this is a repost (could have been in a more specialised thread) - though I don't remember seeing precisely this compilation. The film was put together by Taha F Hassan and funded by Unite. There is an associated blog (no title)
> 
> ...


 Thanks for posting that. It looks as if that gay centre is where the disused gps clinic is (that has been empty and boarded up again for years) When did the gay centre close, does anyone know?

Although it was talking about a time before I was in London - a lot of what was said was really familiar to me from when I moved here in 84. The thing about 'having our own sacred spaces' and about the disapproval for couples as that was following hetro norms especially. I recognised a couple of faces too. Interesting to hear about the other groups in the area at the time too. Lesbians and gay men were creating their own very separate cultures back then - create your own identity and knit your own fun sort of thing, but it could be very separatist and exclusive, I think Pride was the main place I ever socialised with anyone other than lesbians.

Puddy_Tat is right that it was Thatchers clause 28 in 88 that really brought us together, with a lot more talk of how to be inclusive and how to unify as a community. I dont think the 'L' had been included in L&G pride for many years when I joined in late 1988, and the BGTQs only came later.


----------



## editor (Jun 2, 2017)

Love this photo of the Art Deco'd Brixton Empress theatre towards the end of its days


----------



## happyshopper (Jun 2, 2017)

editor said:


> Love this photo of the Art Deco'd Brixton Empress theatre towards the end of its days


When it's my time to go and I'm asked if I have any regrets, I'll say it's that I didn't go and play bingo at the Empress when I had a chance. Kept on meaning to go but never did. The only time I saw the interior was when it was being demolished.


----------



## Gramsci (Jun 2, 2017)

editor said:


> Ten years ago:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 The tram was such a good idea. I wonder why it was abandoned?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 2, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> The tram was such a good idea. I wonder why it was abandoned?



mainly because it was Ken Livingstone's idea and then Boris Johnson got elected mayor...


----------



## Gramsci (Jun 2, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> mainly because it was Ken Livingstone's idea and then Boris Johnson got elected mayor...



A pity. As it would have provided good alternative to car use.


----------



## madolesance (Jun 2, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> The tram was such a good idea. I wonder why it was abandoned?



Wasn't there some tories in Westminster that opposed it because they believed it would be used as a way of moving drugs from South London to North London and back again. I'm sure that's how the Evening Standard tried to brainwash it gullible readers at the time. Meaning what should of and still is a great transport solution being sidelined by the paranoid car community.


----------



## Gramsci (Jun 2, 2017)

madolesance said:


> Wasn't there some tories in Westminster that opposed it because they believed it would be used as a way of moving drugs from South London to North London and back again. I'm sure that's how the Evening Standard tried to brainwash it gullible readers at the time. Meaning what should of and still is a great transport solution being sidelined by the paranoid car community.



Sadly the car community is mainstream in Loughborough Junction. At a meeting I attended a few days ago a residents were complaining that the new developments like the Edge flats did not include parking spaces. I did point out this is normal practice on new developments. Whether they were social housing or expensive private flats. This lack of car parking space was more important to them than the fact the flats are way to expensive for locals. In Loughborough Junction as the car community won the battle on the road closures they are now criticising anything that may reduce car use. Or get in the way of cars having access to roads.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 3, 2017)

1971

from robnitm today on tweeter

formerly a timothy whites


----------



## billythefish (Jun 4, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> A pity. As it would have provided good alternative to car use.


... and reduce pollution on Brixton Road...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 6, 2017)

on flickr today



At the 'change pit' at the north end of Effra Road (tower of Lambeth Town Hall behind the tram)

the tram will be inching forward as the change pit attendant (beside the tram) puts the 'plough' under the tram so it can collect power from the underground conduit on its way to central London (and via the Kingsway subway to Manor House).  The conductor (behind the tram) is ready to take the trolley pole off the wire when this is done.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 10, 2017)

today's tram picture



junction of Dalberg Rd, Water Lane, and Dulwich Rd

current street view here


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 3, 2017)

on tweeter today, posted by Patrick Baty

"John Myland in the doorway of his shop at 128 Stockwell Road, London, in 1907. One of the many illustrations in The Anatomy of Colour."






I make it that it's currently Payless Food & Wine (street view here)


----------



## editor (Jul 3, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today, posted by Patrick Baty
> 
> "John Myland in the doorway of his shop at 128 Stockwell Road, London, in 1907. One of the many illustrations in The Anatomy of Colour."
> 
> ...


That's ace. If I get a few moments, I may do a little history piece on Buzz based on that colourised pic. 
*gets ready to start researching


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 3, 2017)

editor said:


> *gets ready to start researching



i've got London PO directories 1895 / 1914 if you want me to look


----------



## editor (Jul 3, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> i've got London PO directories 1895 / 1914 if you want me to look


Please add anything here - be much appreciated!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 3, 2017)

1895 does not include the suburbs.  

Listed in 1914 as "128 Myland John, oil & color man"

they are still in business - website


----------



## Rexer60 (Jul 5, 2017)

Lived in Brixton '77-'83. Looking for any pics of the homes squatted at #1-#13 Canterbury Crescent.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Jul 17, 2017)

There were so many squats around here, not that I lived here then, but I'd love to see pics too.


----------



## sealion (Jul 17, 2017)

Squatting | Do you remember Olive Morris?


----------



## sealion (Jul 17, 2017)

Railton road
http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/hs_brixpages02.jpg


----------



## CH1 (Jul 18, 2017)

sealion said:


> Railton road
> http://huckcdn.lwlies.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/hs_brixpages02.jpg


That is a 1983 photo. Those were the days!


----------



## crawlers (Jul 18, 2017)

Current favourite pubs for a nice quiet pint? No craft beer......


----------



## editor (Jul 19, 2017)

Brixton 15 years ago: 





















Brixton 15 Years Ago: Coldharbour Lane, Atlantic Road, Ritzy and a huge can of baked beans, July 2002


----------



## peterkro (Jul 19, 2017)

Rexer60 said:


> Lived in Brixton '77-'83. Looking for any pics of the homes squatted at #1-#13 Canterbury Crescent.


Haven't got any pics but I was in Villa road at that time and probably came across you.Music benefits in the Canterbury pub,Piano man in the little gatehouse on Wiltshire road.I only left V road five years ago some people from the seventies still tere,the rest are spread all over the world.One died just a week or so ago who'd made a fortune from designing and selling bespoke kitchens (not one of the politically committed obnov.)


----------



## Casaubon (Jul 20, 2017)

Is this local enough?
Worcester House, at the top of Kennington Rd opposite the Imperial War Museum.

Bomb damage, 8 September 1940.



These days it's a Latino centre.


----------



## Gramsci (Jul 23, 2017)

peterkro said:


> Haven't got any pics but I was in Villa road at that time and probably came across you.Music benefits in the Canterbury pub,Piano man in the little gatehouse on Wiltshire road.I only left V road five years ago some people from the seventies still tere,the rest are spread all over the world.One died just a week or so ago who'd made a fortune from designing and selling bespoke kitchens (not one of the politically committed obnov.)



Lambeth Archives now have all the Carlton Mansions housing Coop stuff I kept over the years.

Plus some photos of other Short life housing being worked on in late seventies. These don't have Villa road. They aren't online. ( Taken in pre digital days). From what I remember they include Lingham street and Lilford road. I don't know who took them. It was a professional photographer for an exhibition on self help S/L housing. 

There is little in archives from the other Coops like Villa road.

Lambeth Archives consider the Carlton Mansions deposit important. I kept minutes if meetings of Lambeth Federation of Coops. Which refer to other Coops. So it's a big archive of how Short Life Coops worked.


----------



## peterkro (Jul 24, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> Lambeth Archives now have all the Carlton Mansions housing Coop stuff I kept over the years.
> 
> Plus some photos of other Short life housing being worked on in late seventies. These don't have Villa road. They aren't online. ( Taken in pre digital days). From what I remember they include Lingham street and Lilford road. I don't know who took them. It was a professional photographer for an exhibition on self help S/L housing.
> 
> ...


Going back to the post by the person who lived in Canterbury Crescent at the time I lived first on the north side of St Johns Crescent (don't remember the number about two thirds up from Brixton road)then at 321 Brixton road (really big houses between V road and St Johns) before my long term sojourn at 33/35 V road.
I don't have any photos but know people who do I should pull my finger out and get copies before they all die off.I'll check out Lambeth archives.

All those houses were knocked down and at first was Infinity gardens (strictly not official) then much later Max Roach park.


----------



## editor (Jul 24, 2017)

Brixton ten years ago 






(sigh) The old Phoenix. 






Hailstorm!






Oops!






Wham!






And the old Albert. 

Brixton Ten Years Ago: Coldharbour crash, joyrider smash, Electric Avenue and mighty hailstones, July 2007


----------



## Gramsci (Jul 24, 2017)

peterkro said:


> Going back to the post by the person who lived in Canterbury Crescent at the time I lived first on the north side of St Johns Crescent (don't remember the number about two thirds up from Brixton road)then at 321 Brixton road (really big houses between V road and St Johns) before my long term sojourn at 33/35 V road.
> I don't have any photos but know people who do I should pull my finger out and get copies before they all die off.I'll check out Lambeth archives.
> 
> All those houses were knocked down and at first was Infinity gardens (strictly not official) then much later Max Roach park.




The Lambeth Archives want more stuff on squatting and Short Life history. It's lacking in the archives. Why they were so glad with the Carlton Mansions deposit. It's what they call a complete history. As it goes from the start of Coop to the end. ( I kept everything. Took up a lot of space in my flat but worth it in the end.) If you could write down your memories and deposit them it would be good. I can give you direct email to head archivist if you pm me.


Lambeth Archives | Lambeth Council


----------



## peterkro (Jul 24, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> The Lambeth Archives want more stuff on squatting and Short Life history. It's lacking in the archives. Why they were so glad with the Carlton Mansions deposit. It's what they call a complete history. As it goes from the start of Coop to the end. ( I kept everything. Took up a lot of space in my flat but worth it in the end.) If you could write down your memories and deposit them it would be good. I can give you direct email to head archivist if you pm me.
> 
> 
> Lambeth Archives | Lambeth Council


The person from Villa road for me to speak to would e Faith Moore I was down there today but she wasn't around will pursue the matter.


----------



## Gramsci (Jul 24, 2017)

peterkro said:


> The person from Villa road for me to speak to would e Faith Moore I was down there today but she wasn't around will pursue the matter.



I know her. As she was the worker for the Lambeth Federation of Housing Coops. I think I will email her to ask.


----------



## editor (Jul 24, 2017)

I'm also always happy to post up stuff on Buzz where it will (arguably) be seen by a lot more people.


----------



## peterkro (Jul 24, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> I know her. As she was the worker for the Lambeth Federation of Housing Coops. I think I will email her to ask.


I haven't seen her since I moved but have spoken to people who see her regular as far as Im aware she has control of the files and whatnot.


----------



## sealion (Jul 24, 2017)

A bit on St Matthews Church
History - St Matthew's Church Brixton


----------



## Gramsci (Jul 24, 2017)

peterkro said:


> I haven't seen her since I moved but have spoken to people who see her regular as far as Im aware she has control of the files and whatnot.



I used to attend the Lambeth Federation of Housing Coops meetings. I kept all the minutes. It's part of the Carlton Mansions deposit.

As you were around Brixton in those years it's worth you writing down your personal memories. It's oral history which is important. Minutes if meetings are useful. The archivist us interested in how the short life worked as a form of Housing policy. But the other side of it is the subjective view. What Brixton was like. Etc.


----------



## peterkro (Jul 24, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> I used to attend the Lambeth Federation of Housing Coops meetings. I kept all the minutes. It's part of the Carlton Mansions deposit.
> 
> As you were around Brixton in those years it's worth you writing down your personal memories. It's oral history which is important. Minutes if meetings are useful. The archivist us interested in how the short life worked as a form of Housing policy. But the other side of it is the subjective view. What Brixton was like. Etc.


Yes I agree, in V roads case the people are spread to the winds there's a prolific poster on here who's parents and me are the only long term residents still standing, because some of the houses are Housing Association there are some other long term ex squatters but they come from Milbrook Place and places further afield they also have their stories to tell about Lambeth Shortlife but not specifically V road.I think there are only four or five houses where people got the money together to buy their flats or houses even at a discount from Lambeth.She'll know who I am and the other people I've mentioned.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 24, 2017)

Herne Hill, 1950 from Flickr today


----------



## sealion (Jul 24, 2017)

I didn't know that charlie Chaplin once lived in Brixton. Ferndale and Brixton road.
Chaplin in london
Charlie Chaplin blue plaque unveiled at his beloved Brixton flat


----------



## teuchter (Jul 24, 2017)

sealion said:


> I didn't know that charlie Chaplin once lived in Brixton. Ferndale and Brixton road.
> Chaplin in london
> Charlie Chaplin blue plaque unveiled at his beloved Brixton flat



And he worked for Fred Karno, based in Southwell Rd in Loughborough Junction at what's now the Clockwork studios.


----------



## editor (Jul 24, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Herne Hill, 1950 from Flickr today



I would have loved to have taken a look in that signal box.


----------



## peterkro (Jul 24, 2017)

sealion said:


> I didn't know that charlie Chaplin once lived in Brixton. Ferndale and Brixton road.
> Chaplin in london
> Charlie Chaplin blue plaque unveiled at his beloved Brixton flat


He did indeed mind you around Lambeth there are hundreds if not thousands of places who claim sone connection to Chaplin.Van Gogh hung around Brixton as well back in the day.


----------



## sealion (Jul 24, 2017)

peterkro said:


> Van Gogh hung around Brixton as well back in the day.


Hackford road.


----------



## editor (Jul 24, 2017)

editor said:


> I would have loved to have taken a look in that signal box.


Look at those lovely semaphores at Herne Hill


----------



## peterkro (Jul 24, 2017)

sealion said:


> Hackford road.


Another louche hanger on in the area was Dylan Thomas although in his case Herne hill, many claim Milkwood road is where Under Milkwood came from I don't know but it certainly seems possible.


----------



## editor (Jul 24, 2017)

peterkro said:


> Another louche hanger on in the area was Dylan Thomas although in his case Herne hill, many claim Milkwood road is where Under Milkwood came from I don't know but it certainly seems possible.


I wrote a piece about that few years ago Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood and the south London connection


----------



## sealion (Jul 24, 2017)

peterkro said:


> Another louche hanger on in the area was Dylan Thomas although in his case Herne hill, many claim Milkwood road is where Under Milkwood came from I don't know but it certainly seems possible.


Brixton and it surrounds where pretty affluent back then and had quite a few theatres and artistes living in the area.


----------



## teuchter (Jul 24, 2017)

And Mendelssohn lived next to what's now Ruskin park, apparently.


----------



## sealion (Jul 24, 2017)

teuchter said:


> And Mendelssohn lived next to what's now Ruskin park, apparently.


Isn't the sundial in Ruskin park dedicated to him ?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 24, 2017)

editor said:


> I would ave loved to have taken a look in that signal box.



not able to oblige

would this tour of shepherds lane box do as an alternative?

(think this was the SB marked behind 234 Ferndale Road here)


----------



## peterkro (Jul 25, 2017)

sealion said:


> Isn't the sundial in Ruskin park dedicated to him ?



And John Ruskin Himself who with his weird phobia about pubic hair lived up the hill and did some great work although his views on sexuality was very very strange.

The large house on the corner of Wiltshire road and St Johns crescent was home to a very famous female music hall star,Unfortunately I can't bring her name into my brain.


----------



## ViolentPanda (Jul 26, 2017)

Casaubon said:


> Is this local enough?
> Worcester House, at the top of Kennington Rd opposite the Imperial War Museum.
> 
> Bomb damage, 8 September 1940.
> ...



Wow!
Fantastic picture! It's great to get to see how these old LCC/GLC blocks were constructed!


----------



## editor (Jul 28, 2017)

Some boozy history.


----------



## editor (Aug 2, 2017)

This shows the Post Office on Acre Lane after WW2 bomb damage. Any idea where it was?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 2, 2017)

editor said:


> This shows the Post Office on Acre Lane after WW2 bomb damage. Any idea where it was?
> 
> View attachment 112609


fairly sure i have seen this before and did locate it, think it was the parade opposite town hall, but i am on the move now so searching is not so easy.

nls map archive may help


----------



## editor (Aug 2, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> fairly sure i have seen this before and did locate it, think it was the parade opposite town hall, but i am on the move now so searching is not so easy.


That's where I think it was.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 2, 2017)

editor said:


> That's where I think it was.



just searched - discussed on this thread in dec 14.  10 acre lane seemed to be it.



Puddy_Tat said:


> This (V1 and V2 logs) records a "V1 struck a row of shops/buildings opposite the Town Hall in Acre Lane" on 28 June 1944 (article about it on brixton buzz here)
> 
> Bomb Sight records two high explosive bombs landing on Acre Lane in the 1940-41 blitz.
> 
> ...


----------



## lang rabbie (Aug 4, 2017)

sealion said:


> Isn't the sundial in Ruskin park dedicated to him ?



It was.

 



			
				Historic England Rusking Park Listing Entry said:
			
		

> A further c 10m south, on the inner edge of the perimeter path, are the remains of a terracotta sundial decorated with Tudor roses (listed grade II). The sundial was erected to commemorate Mendelssohn's visit to 168 Denmark Hill, Dane House, in 1842. Both the inscription recording this event and the brass dial have gone.



There is a plan to move it from under the tree and restore it some point...
Restoration of the Mendelssohn sundial


----------



## Simon Hannah (Aug 5, 2017)

Dear all,

I am doing some research into Lambeth from 1978-1992, specifically the Council, its 'loony left' image, but I also want to discuss the culture and politics of the borough during that time. (Article here on www.brixtonbuzz.com/2016/01/local-academic-looking-for-contributions-as-part-of-phd-research-on-the-radical-lambeth-council-of-the-1980s/)

I have got a blog which I am slowly populating with material as I find it Radical Lambeth : 1978-1992

If anyone lived or worked in Lambeth during those years and would be willing to meet for a cup of tea/beer and a chat to help me with the research then please get in touch!  

radical.lambeth@gmail.com

Cheers!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 12, 2017)

on flickr today



Comment on the photo mentions that "Brixton always was well known for used car dealers"

edit - at 10 Effra Road - Brockwell Court to left - current street view here

1940s map here


----------



## newbie (Aug 12, 2017)

Gramsci said:


> I used to attend the Lambeth Federation of Housing Coops meetings. I kept all the minutes. It's part of the Carlton Mansions deposit.
> 
> As you were around Brixton in those years it's worth you writing down your personal memories. It's oral history which is important. Minutes if meetings are useful. The archivist us interested in how the short life worked as a form of Housing policy. But the other side of it is the subjective view. What Brixton was like. Etc.


hmm.  I think I've got some minutes of All Lambeth Squatters meetings from mid 70s.  Somewhere.  In a box.  One of many.  gulp.


----------



## CH1 (Aug 12, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today
> 
> can find a reference to them being at 63 Effra Road (late 40s mapping here - the buildings to left and behind were industrial not flats)



What intrigues me was that according to your map the much-loved Cooltan factory (67 Effra Road) was originally described as a "Glove Factory"
I wonder if it was the same building - with the a Critall Window quasi art deco facade?





(picture from the Urban75 history section on squats)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 12, 2017)

CH1 said:


> What intrigues me was that according to your map the much-loved Cooltan factory (67 Effra Road) was originally described as a "Glove Factory"
> I wonder if it was the same building - with the a Critall Window quasi art deco facade?
> 
> 
> ...



That looks pretty much 1930s, so probably so.

 at curved crittall windows.  

A search on 67 Effra Road finds a 1952 London Gazette entry about the winding up of Coldprufe Leathers Ltd (here - opens as pdf)


----------



## Gramsci (Aug 13, 2017)

newbie said:


> hmm.  I think I've got some minutes of All Lambeth Squatters meetings from mid 70s.  Somewhere.  In a box.  One of many.  gulp.



The Archives would be very interested in those.


----------



## Gramsci (Aug 13, 2017)

This is on at the Archives. Alexandra is a MA student who has been cataloguing the Carlton Mansions collection.

The exhibition is part of her dissertation. Its about her response to the archive. (and others). Its also sbout theory behind archiving.

There is a blog to go with it.


Carlton Mansions




> This blog documents the process of cataloguing the recently acquired Carlton Mansions Collection housed at Lambeth Archives. While often framed as an act of archival science, here the subjectivities of cataloguing archival material are explored.
> Carlton Mansions, existed as a short life housing co-op in Brixton from 1979-2014, the material in the collection covers this period - but in fragments. No linear narrative awaits discovery, instead, as seen in the photographs and observations that populate this space, these objects offer competing ideas, clashing voices and numerous gaps. Perhaps most of all though, they reveal evocative traces of an experiment in housing, and a community committed to making it work.


----------



## editor (Aug 14, 2017)

Brixton history: Coldharbour Lane and Brixton Road photos taken 100 years apart


----------



## editor (Aug 17, 2017)

Brixton 15 Years Ago: Brady’s, The Queen and The Angel, signs and graffiti, August 2002


----------



## editor (Aug 21, 2017)

Ten years ago 

















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Brixton Splash, the Camberwell Submarine, and Jesus Police, August 2007


----------



## ViolentPanda (Aug 22, 2017)

Simon Hannah said:


> Dear all,
> 
> I am doing some research into Lambeth from 1978-1992, specifically the Council, its 'loony left' image, but I also want to discuss the culture and politics of the borough during that time. (Article here on www.brixtonbuzz.com/2016/01/local-academic-looking-for-contributions-as-part-of-phd-research-on-the-radical-lambeth-council-of-the-1980s/)
> 
> ...



Simon, Ted Knight is still alive and kicking as chair of the Gipsy Hill Labour Party.  He's still as sharp as when he led the council.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 24, 2017)

Brixton in 1981 by Ian Berry.

posted on tweeter today by david olusoga


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 27, 2017)

on flickr today - described as 'Effra Road 1947'

seems to be somewhere between a dealer and a scrapyard



looking at the maps online (and flicking between the 1947 and the 1920s ones) I think it's west side of the road, just north of Crownstone Road with the buildings in the background being St Matthew's Road (none of the buildings visible - if it's where I think it is - are still there for reference) - but open to alternative suggestions


----------



## friendofdorothy (Aug 29, 2017)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today - described as 'Effra Road 1947'
> 
> seems to be somewhere between a dealer and a scrapyard
> 
> ...




Those gate posts look quite destinctive. I'll look out for them next time I go past, to see if they still exist.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 30, 2017)

friendofdorothy said:


> Those gate posts look quite destinctive. I'll look out for them next time I go past, to see if they still exist.





did try to find them on street view, but happy hunting!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 9, 2017)

another couple from Chris Stanley on Flickr today



c. 1950.  tram is coming towards the camera - trams had a one-way system here, Morval Road and Dalberg Road towards Herne Hill, Brixton Water Lane towards Effra Road (presume the streets were a bit too narrow for two tracks)

and



Dalberg Road, June 1950

ETA - remains of pub is the 'Rising Sun', 1 Effra Parade.  A V1 'flying bomb' fell on Effra Parade 19.7.44 (more here)

Tram 33 ran from West Norwood via Herne Hill, Brixton, Kennington, Wesminster, Kingsway Subway, Bloomsbury, Islington, to Manor House.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 10, 2017)

The up 'Night Ferry' passes Brixton on 2 August 1975


----------



## editor (Sep 15, 2017)

Brixton ten years ago: 






















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Karaoke Frankie, Steam Train, Green Fair, Wrong Turn Bus and a Flattened Truck, September 2007


----------



## lang rabbie (Oct 16, 2017)

Somewhat unexpectedly, the talk "up the hill" at the Streatham Society tonight was by Alan Argent, who I now learn has been minister at the Trinity Congregational Church in St Matthews Rd for *40* years!

The topic was 'The Angel's Voice'  a self-produced magazine of a century ago - obviously made more poignant by the knowledge that most of the contributors went on to the battlefields of WW1 only a few years later and a proportion did not return.


The evening included some fascinating social history of what was then a self-improving upper working class and lower-middle class congregation, who Alan contrasted to the much socially smarter Congregationalists of the former "Brixton Independent Church" (building now the RC Church Of Our Lady of the Rosary)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 18, 2017)

stretching a point slightly, as it's a photo of camberwell green, but it's a damn good picture



some time between 1906 - 1911.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 19, 2017)

another one today (think we've had similar but maybe not this particular photo)

the Orange Luxury Coaches depot / coach station - looks like they tried to get a bit of revenue in the winter using the place as an amusement park.

the island arrangement in the middle of the road and odd looking tram track is the tram 'change pit' - where trams coming from Norwood terminus on the overhead wire electric supply would have a 'plough' connected underneath so they could continue towards central London on the conduit electric supply (and vice versa) - the bloke stood in the middle of the road is probably the tram change pit attendant.


----------



## editor (Nov 7, 2017)

Brixton Road in detail - including a lovely pic of the old Websters shoe shop: 






Brixton history in photos – Brixton Road captured just before the First World War


----------



## CH1 (Nov 7, 2017)

editor said:


> Brixton Road in detail - including a lovely pic of the old Websters shoe shop:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Best set of pictures I've seen of Brixton Road/Brixton town centre pre WWI.

In the Buzz article did this "This map shows how Brixton looked in 1985 before the building line was extended closer to Brixton Road." actually mean 1895?


----------



## editor (Nov 7, 2017)

CH1 said:


> Best set of pictures I've seen of Brixton Road/Brixton town centre pre WWI.
> 
> In the Buzz article did this "This map shows how Brixton looked in 1985 before the building line was extended closer to Brixton Road." actually mean 1895?


Oops! I was up so late researching this article I missed that typo. Fixed it now - thanks. 

 I get lost in these pieces sometimes and what I thought might be a half hour job turns into hours of research and getting lost in history (which I like, tbh).


----------



## Nivag (Nov 12, 2017)

I found these postcards in my late dad's collection of random things he saved. Thought they might be of interest some of you.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 12, 2017)

editor said:


> what I thought might be a half hour job turns into hours of research and getting lost in history



it tends to.

bonus points if the process also involves online purchase of a book you didn't previously know existed


----------



## editor (Nov 15, 2017)

How long before these are gentrified out of existence? 







Photo feature: the changing face of the railway arches on Brixton Station Road


----------



## CH1 (Nov 15, 2017)

editor looks to me that Brixton Brewery are now using three arches - one being on the Gresham - Barrington Road side. I don't know if this counts as gentrification - but I guess use for storage and brewing counts as a modular non-shop use which is not provided for too much elsewhere. 

The trouble is all the premises get pushed up market.

Take Shakespeare Business Centre nearby, which once handled malt and seeds brought in by the railway.  This is now all WiFi and white collar co-working start-ups (apart from the SLAM addiction unit).


----------



## editor (Nov 15, 2017)

CH1 said:


> editor looks to me that Brixton Brewery are now using three arches - one being on the Gresham - Barrington Road side. I don't know if this counts as gentrification - but I guess use for storage and brewing counts as a modular non-shop use which is not provided for too much elsewhere.
> 
> The trouble is all the premises get pushed up market.
> 
> ...


There's a great little recording studio in there too which is affordable and well used by local acts.


----------



## CH1 (Dec 7, 2017)

There was a very brief appearance on BBC Four last night of Prince Kumali (Gordon Petrie) the wrestler who was landlord at the George Canning in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

This was in the course of a Spike Milligan Q5 sketch sending up the tendency of people to stand up as soon as they hear "God Save the Queen"

I have posted the clip of Prince Kumali's bit below and the link to the whole programme, which is a compilation dating from 1969-1982.
Spike Milligan: Assorted Q - Episode 1


----------



## editor (Dec 7, 2017)

CH1 said:


> There was a very brief appearance on BBC Four last night of Prince Kumali (Gordon Petrie) the wrestler who was landlord at the George Canning in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
> 
> This was in the course of a Spike Milligan Q5 sketch sending up the tendency of people to stand up as soon as they hear "God Save the Queen"
> 
> ...



I've been meaning to write up about the boxing at the Canning for ages...


----------



## editor (Dec 10, 2017)

This was really difficult to research - please tell me if anything needs amending. 

Brixton History: 100 years of Dumbarton Road, Brixton


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## editor (Dec 12, 2017)

Here's a rare postcard view of the Prince Of Wales:


----------



## editor (Dec 13, 2017)

Some Brixton history











Brixton Ten Years Ago: Electric Avenue, street markets, foggy streets, and Christmas scenes, December 2007


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 14, 2017)

on tweeter today, picture of linton kwesi johnson from the black music research unit collection

i'm taking a guess that it's somewhere brixtonish but don't know the patch well enough to be sure...


----------



## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

Looks a bit like Mayall Rd...but I don't think it is.


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## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

It is Mayall Road with the Windsor Castle in the background


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## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

Somewhere about here?

The reason I'd decided it wasn't Mayall Rd was that the houses on the right don't have the distinctive fancy bits on the parapet which they do now. So those must have been added on at some point? Which is surprising because they run the whole length of the street. This suggests that all those houses are in the same ownership?


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> Somewhere about here?
> 
> The reason I'd decided it wasn't Mayall Rd was that the houses on the right don't have the distinctive fancy bits on the parapet which they do now. So those must have been added on at some point? Which is surprising because they run the whole length of the street. This suggests that all those houses are in the same ownership?


no it doesn't, but it may be that the same builder built them. the same developer may have owned the land but then the houses likely to have been sold individually.


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> Somewhere about here?
> 
> The reason I'd decided it wasn't Mayall Rd was that the houses on the right don't have the distinctive fancy bits on the parapet which they do now. So those must have been added on at some point? Which is surprising because they run the whole length of the street. This suggests that all those houses are in the same ownership?





Spoiler



/spoiler]
1893 map - i'd go same developer


----------



## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> Somewhere about here?
> 
> The reason I'd decided it wasn't Mayall Rd was that the houses on the right don't have the distinctive fancy bits on the parapet which they do now. So those must have been added on at some point? Which is surprising because they run the whole length of the street. This suggests that all those houses are in the same ownership?


and i'd be right Why is Mayall Road so called?


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

MissL said:


> It is Mayall Road with the Windsor Castle in the background



so this stretch of it


----------



## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

Pickman's model said:


> no it doesn't, but it may be that the same builder built them. the same developer may have owned the land but then the houses likely to have been sold individually.


Read more carefully. Obviously the same developer built them. The point is, they currently have the ornamental scroll on the parapet. In the photo on the Brixton Society page they have it too. However, in the Linton Kwesi photo they appear to be missing. So, it appears they disappeared and were then reinstated more recently, along the entire terrace. With all the houses in separate ownership it would seem unlikely that this would happen.


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## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

Pickman's model said:


> View attachment 122997
> so this stretch of it


No, not that stretch. It is taken from the position I indicated with the google link above, close to the junction with Shakespeare Rd.


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> Read more carefully. Obviously the same developer built them. The point is, they currently have the ornamental scroll on the parapet. In the photo on the Brixton Society page they have it too. However, in the Linton Kwesi photo they appear to be missing. So, it appears they disappeared and were then reinstated more recently, along the entire terrace. With all the houses in separate ownership it would seem unlikely that this would happen.


yes. go back and reread my post. i only said i thought it was likely they were in separate ownership, not that they were in separate ownership.


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> No, not that stretch. It is taken from the position I indicated with the google link above, close to the junction with Shakespeare Rd.



windsor castle highlighted

let's say he's 20 houses down so round about 147 mayall road

could you show your working?


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## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

To the left of where you've scribbled your yellow pen, you can see the facade of a modernist building, which you can also see in my google link. Plus an anomalous projecting window at first floor level, also visible on google streetview if you move north a bit. This clearly establishes that the location is to the south of the junction with Chaucer road, whereas you claimed it was the stretch north of that junction.


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## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

Hmm very strange. Maybe it's not Mayall Road then? Can understand it being there originally and then being taken down but very unusual if it were all reinstated.


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## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

Ignore me I'm being a moron. Only just catching up on posts


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> To the left of where you've scribbled your yellow pen, you can see the facade of a modernist building, which you can also see in my google link. Plus an anomalous projecting window at first floor level, also visible on google streetview if you move north a bit. This clearly establishes that the location is to the south of the junction with Chaucer road, whereas you claimed it was the stretch north of that junction.


yeh. because as you can see from your picture you can't see the windsor castle from there, which missl suggested was in the background: but i take your point about the bleak brutalist building. incidentally, 245 mayall road has been recently or is for sale: so the question of ownership needs more investigation. someone like you with an eye for detail might like to look into it.


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## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

The only other road I can think of with houses that style is Pulross Road - looking towards Brixton.


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## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

And that's maybe the Queen pub rather than the Windsor Castle. Queen? Is that what it was called?


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## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

Pickman's model said:


> yeh. because as you can see from your picture you can't see the windsor castle from there,


Just a whacky theory of mine, but maybe that's because it burned down in the riots, and generally it's hard to see things that don't exist.


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

MissL said:


> The only other road I can think of with houses that style is Pulross Road - looking towards Brixton.


i don't think it is, having looked on the auld maps and google maps.

tell you what, someone should email lkj and ask him: LKJ Records - Linton Kwesi Johnson | Contact us


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## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

Actually just found the photo online (Black Music Research Unit) and it says it's Railton Road. Mystery solved.


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> Just a whacky theory of mine, but maybe that's because it burned down in the riots, and generally it's hard to see things that don't exist.


yeh when you've got the wrong road it's particularly hard.


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## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

MissL said:


> Actually just found the photo online (Black Music Research Unit) and it says it's Railton Road. Mystery solved.


That's wrong. It's Mayall Rd.


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## CH1 (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter Pickman's model MissL I still think Mayall Rd more likely.
1. there is a bleak modernist façade on the left in actuality, which was there pre the 1981 disturbances - it is actually the back of Railton Road Methodist Church
2. Mayall Road was one of those selected for an envelope scheme under the Housing Action Areas, which could account for restoration of ornamentation.

Also anyone looking at modern photo of Mayall Road has to adjust to the Metropolitan Housing scheme next to the Leeson Road railway tunnel.

If that photo is really Railon Road where is it then? My feeling is that "Railton Road" is a 1980s generic term like Brixton was a generic term - vibrant, radical, black, opressed etc.


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

When I'm back from dinner I'll email lkj and ask


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## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

It's 100% definitely Mayall Rd.


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## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

Personally I'm with you on Mayall Road. We know best. Mystery solved. I gotta get some work done now


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## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

CH1 said:


> 2. Mayall Road was one of those selected for an envelope scheme under the Housing Action Areas, which could account for restoration of ornamentation.



That's interesting, does that mean the work was carried out with council funding?

That terrace has always struck me as a handsome one. Sadly in the last couple of years Lambeth have granted permission for a couple of mansard roof extensions within it. That's going to break up the roof line and put an end to the consistency (until everyone's done one anyway).


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## Pickman's model (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> It's 100% definitely Mayall Rd.


But round 219 you say


----------



## CH1 (Dec 14, 2017)

teuchter said:


> That's interesting, does that mean the work was carried out with council funding?
> 
> That terrace has always struck me as a handsome one. Sadly in the last couple of years Lambeth have granted permission for a couple of mansard roof extensions within it. That's going to break up the roof line and put an end to the consistency (until everyone's done one anyway).


I don't know how envelope schemes worked funding wise, but I think it would have been 100% council funded. In the case of individual houses up to £30,000 was available, but I think there were conditions on sale etc.

You should remember that many of the houses in both Railton and Mayall roads were actually council owned (and many squatted). An envelope scheme including council owned and privately owned houses would surely have made sense at that time (Ted Knight/Ken Livingstone etc - even George Tremlett former GLC Tory Housing chief might well have approved )


----------



## teuchter (Dec 14, 2017)

Pickman's model said:


> But round 219 you say know


Correct


----------



## MissL (Dec 14, 2017)

oh you two


----------



## lang rabbie (Dec 14, 2017)

There's a rant somewhere - I think it was by Iain Sinclair -  about how housing improvement area grants of that era got spent on the priorities of middle class amenity societies such as reinstating Victorian cornices and finial features rather than on sorting out damp lower ground floors.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 14, 2017)

Having had a look at Mayall Road on street view, the cornices or whatever they is, I am inclined to think they are recent additions, not the originals.  I can't believe that the originals of that age would all be as complete and in as good condition as those seem to be.


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## sealion (Dec 14, 2017)

I thought it was Railton so had a search.
Photo of Linton Kwesi Johnson (LKJ) on Railton Road Brixton - 1979 | urbanimage.tv


----------



## sealion (Dec 14, 2017)




----------



## sealion (Dec 14, 2017)

Aswad 1981


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 15, 2017)

I'm not at all convinced it's Railton Road (unless the houses have been demolished - I've only got currentish street view to go on) - some on Railton Road are a similar style (possibly same developer or builder) but they are three storey.

I'm mainly going on shape of the windows, decorative brickwork on the houses on the opposite side of the road, brickwork / shape of the ground floor windows on the side of the road he's walking along - all of which match the bit of Mayall Road near Shakespeare Street (this sort of bit).  Also no sign of any bus stops - the 2 ran along Railton Road in the 70s

(The one with the shop may well be Railton Road - I can't find an exact match)

And as it's just round the corner, if LKJ was doing a photo-shoot, it's quite possible he walked round the block and the photographer may have recorded the whole lot as Railton Road.  Whether LKJ or anyone else involved (getting on for 40 years ago) would remember exactly what streets they walked along is doubtful.

Just because an archive says something is X doesn't always mean it's correct - I've encountered a few anomalies in archives more 'official' than this one...


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## teuchter (Dec 15, 2017)

It definitely is not Railton Rd.
It definitely is Mayall Rd.
There need be no further discussion on this.


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## CH1 (Dec 15, 2017)

sealion said:


> Aswad 1981


In a way this would make a better front-drop to the Hip-Hop Chip Shop


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## sealion (Dec 15, 2017)

teuchter said:


> It definitely is Mayall Rd.


I don't think there was a pub on Mayall rd . When i saw the picture first i thought of the Dalyell road and what could the Marquis pub in the distance.


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## teuchter (Dec 15, 2017)

sealion said:


> I don't think there was a pub on Mayall rd . When i saw the picture first i thought of the Dalyell road and what could the Marquis pub in the distance.


There was a pub on Mayall rd.

Windsor Castle, 54 Mayall Road, SE24 - lost pubs of Lambeth

It's Mayall Rd.

The photo is of Mayall Rd.

The road in the photo is Mayall rd.

The pub in the photo is the Windsor Castle.

The Windsor Castle no longer exists.

Hence it is not visible any more.

Maybe we can spin this question out for a few more pages though?


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## sealion (Dec 15, 2017)

I said i did'nt think there was  Maybe you were about in 1912 when it was built.


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## sealion (Dec 15, 2017)

teuchter said:


> There was a pub on Mayall rd.


On the junction of Mayall road. So not entirely on Mayall rd.


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## editor (Dec 15, 2017)

Anyone know anything about this?


----------



## Pickman's model (Dec 15, 2017)

editor said:


> Anyone know anything about this?



you mean that large heron weathervane created by artist maggi hambling?


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## Twattor (Dec 15, 2017)

teuchter said:


> There was a pub on Mayall rd.
> 
> Windsor Castle, 54 Mayall Road, SE24 - lost pubs of Lambeth
> 
> ...


At risk of spinning this out some more, look at the houses on the opposite side of the road in the 1912 pic and they have the parapet detailing you noted in post #953, which you pointed out weren't visible in the linton kwesi johnson photo.  seems odd as the Windsor castle definitely looks the same


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## Pickman's model (Dec 15, 2017)

editor said:


> Anyone know anything about this?



  something here you might recognise, editor  The Brixton Heron Weathervane, Coldharbour Lane/Brixton Road


----------



## Pickman's model (Dec 15, 2017)

.


----------



## teuchter (Dec 15, 2017)

Twattor said:


> At risk of spinning this out some more, look at the houses on the opposite side of the road in the 1912 pic and they have the parapet detailing you noted in post #953, which you pointed out weren't visible in the linton kwesi johnson photo.  seems odd as the Windsor castle definitely looks the same


Yes. We've been over this. The detailing was there in 1912, it wasn't in the LKJ photo, now it is again.

On the houses on Mayall Rd.

That's Mayall Rd, in case anyone's wondering.


----------



## Pickman's model (Dec 15, 2017)

teuchter said:


> Yes. We've been over this. The detailing was there in 1912, it wasn't in the LKJ photo, now it is again.
> 
> On the houses on Mayall Rd.
> 
> That's Mayall Rd, in case anyone's wondering.


hurra you've won the interweb


----------



## editor (Dec 15, 2017)

Pickman's model said:


> you mean that large heron weathervane created by artist maggi hambling?


Er, no. I mean about the venue closing down. But I've realised that I've posted it in the wrong thread.


----------



## Pickman's model (Dec 15, 2017)

editor said:


> Er, no. I mean about the venue closing down. But I've realised that I've posted it in the wrong thread.


they've events on their website going up to june  What’s On – POW / The Prince Of Wales


----------



## friendofdorothy (Jan 4, 2018)

Pickman's model said:


> i don't think it is, having looked on the auld maps and google maps.
> 
> tell you what, someone should email lkj and ask him: LKJ Records - Linton Kwesi Johnson | Contact us





MissL said:


> Actually just found the photo online (Black Music Research Unit) and it says it's Railton Road. Mystery solved.





teuchter said:


> It definitely is not Railton Rd.
> It definitely is Mayall Rd.
> There need be no further discussion on this.



I know I'm rather late to this - but I don't care I'm going to join in anyway. It's never too late for discussion.

My money is on Railton road - and its near where he still lives. The pub in the background looks like the Hamilton to me. 

I'll ask him when I next see him in the pub/betting shop, if he remembers.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 5, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> I know I'm rather late to this - but I don't care I'm going to join in anyway. It's never too late for discussion.
> 
> My money is on Railton road - and its near where he still lives. The pub in the background looks like the Hamilton to me.
> 
> I'll ask him when I next see him in the pub/betting shop, if he remembers.


The style of the houses on the still remaining part of Mayall Road appears to match the pic (still seen in post #950 & #961).
If I had an iPhoneor Galaxy I would go down there and see if I could get a physical match. We need someone nerdy enough to do a then and now so everyone could agree.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Jan 5, 2018)

I'll have a good look next time I walk down Railton rd, but I don't have a camera. Will report back.


----------



## Theghostbus (Jan 5, 2018)

I've just stumbled across this from another thread on Urban75. Let me put you all out of your misery once and for all. It doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone to check the name of that side road as the pub was obviously situated on a corner plot. I can tell you - it's Leeson Road. The Windsor Castle stood on the corner of Mayall Road and Leeson Road. The entrance door to the pub was exactly on that corner - whether you think that makes the address Leeson Road or Mayall Road I don't know, but 54 Mayall Road is good enough for me. How do I know all this? Because for part of my childhood I grew up at 92 Mayall Road, just down the road. Every time I went to the sweetshop in Leeson Road run by a dear old man named Mr Snooks, I passed that pub, and it was definitely called the Windsor Castle! And if that's still not enough proof, my grandmother used to work as a barmaid in there!


----------



## teuchter (Jan 8, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> I know I'm rather late to this - but I don't care I'm going to join in anyway. It's never too late for discussion.
> 
> My money is on Railton road



How much money?


----------



## Theghostbus (Jan 8, 2018)

teuchter said:


> How much money?



Haaa! Nice one!


----------



## lordnoise (Jan 16, 2018)

Mayall Rd complete with modernist building on left. The pic is from Google maps and looks North towards Brixton centre. The Windsor was indeed further up on the left where the modern stuff starts. I lived in Mayall Rd in the early 80s and had the odd pint in there. In Winter I remember having to negotiate a curtain that was drawn across the the door to stop the draughts (the wind sort from outside not the ones being slammed on to the tables inside). It was a proper old school Brixton boozer with a good mix of punters run by an older couple, he from the Caribbean somewhere, she a tough no nonsense South London woman. It was always interesting in there but everyone seemed 3 times my age so I tended to head for the fantastic 3 bar Irish run Railway (later Bradys) or the good old Trinity.


----------



## editor (Jan 17, 2018)

These buildings on New Park Road near the junction with Brixton Hill have always intrigued me. The one nearest the camera looks very early Victorian to me but I haven't been able to find any more info on old maps. 

 

I thought the image below might be related but I think the church is in the wrong place. 

It's titled 'Gilman's Cottages off New Park Road, on the borders of Clapham Park and Brixton Hill, dated 1911. The tower of All Saints Church, Lyham Road, can be seen on the right.'


----------



## lang rabbie (Jan 17, 2018)

editor said:


> These buildings on New Park Road near the junction with Brixton Hill have always intrigued me. The one nearest the camera looks very early Victorian to me but I haven't been able to find any more info on old maps.
> 
> View attachment 125499
> 
> ...



I think it is yet another annoying typo on the Landmark site. They are referred to as *"Gilham's cottages"* in another title field on that same page*; *in street indexes (which suggest they were close to the corner of Doverfield Road in 1912] and Medical Officer of Health reports [which suggests they were condemned as unfit for habitation in 1919.]

Brixton chitter chatter, part 2


----------



## editor (Jan 18, 2018)

I've had a good look around this image: Brixton history: Lambeth Town Hall, Ritzy cinema and Coldharbour Lane in the 1920s


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 21, 2018)

London County Council Tramways poster, 1930






on tweeter today from lang rabbie

wondered why it didn't show cross London services via the Kingsway Subway - further research reminded me it was closed for reconstruction (to allow double deck trams to use it) during 1930.

Night bus N87 (which replaced the night tram service) continued to run on the 'figure 8' service until 1984


----------



## David Clapson (Jan 21, 2018)

Found this site about 20th century London culture. All sorts of stuff including some bits about Brixton Brixton « Another Nickel In The Machine


----------



## Slo-mo (Jan 24, 2018)

I'm not sure if this has already been posted. I've checked back a few pages and can't see it.

A full eleven minutes worth of early 80s Brixton.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 24, 2018)

Slo-mo said:


> I'm not sure if this has already been posted. I've checked back a few pages and can't see it.
> A full eleven minutes worth of early 80s Brixton.



It has - and the vibrancy of the solo dancer 29 seconds in recalled by some. Look how in 1982 one could dance all day to records in Granville Arcade entrance without being sanctioned (or at least i assume so).


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 24, 2018)

editor said:


> It's titled 'Gilman's Cottages off New Park Road, on the borders of Clapham Park and Brixton Hill, dated 1911. The tower of All Saints Church, Lyham Road, can be seen on the right.'





lang rabbie said:


> I think it is yet another annoying typo on the Landmark site. They are referred to as *"Gilham's cottages"* in another title field on that same page*; *in street indexes (which suggest they were close to the corner of Doverfield Road in 1912] and Medical Officer of Health reports [which suggests they were condemned as unfit for habitation in 1919.]



Looking at the shape of the buildings, the angle of the row of houses behind, and the angle it views the church (which is no longer the same structure), I think the Gilham's / Gilman's Cottages buildings may be those that I've centred Old Maps on - around where 76 / 78 Doverfield Road are now.  

This shows a short road as Park Road Cottages in the 1870s, Paddy's Lane in 1895 and Doverfield Road by 1910.

(Wonder if Paddys Lane was a local term referring to a specific Patrick who lived there or owned some of the land, or if it was a local reference to Irish residents?  Map makers tended at one time to go on what they were told by locals, so there can be variations.  As an aside, there was a street in the East End that got marked on some maps as 'Knockfergus' in the 1600s) 

Spelling on old documents can be difficult with changes in how handwriting looks.  Mum-tat found a missing bit of the family by trying a few alternative spellings in census data.



editor said:


> These buildings on New Park Road near the junction with Brixton Hill have always intrigued me. The one nearest the camera looks very early Victorian to me but I haven't been able to find any more info on old maps.



About all I can pick up from old maps on these is that the building that's now 3A New Park Road appears to have been part of 224 Brixton Hill rather than a separate building in the way that numbers 3 and 5 are.  (Although No. 3 seems to have been occupied by the same company as 222  

The following are extracts from the 1911 Post Office London Suburban Directory (it's on Leicester university's website)

Brixton Hill - 

 

New Park Road

 

Mr Callaby registered freehold of no. 224 in 1920 (London Gazette extract - opens as PDF) - I can not find further traces of Albert Bloice or of the London Vacuum Cleaning Company (other than a current company by that name in Watford who say they have 20 years experience so presumably not related.)


----------



## editor (Jan 29, 2018)

OK, so this is only history dating back ten years, but I'm curious what happened to this window. Is is still there (and you can see through it from inside) or has it really been bricked up? 

I'm guessing it's the former, but the brickwork does look very convincing...


----------



## hungry_squirrel (Jan 29, 2018)

editor said:


> OK, so this is only history dating back ten years, but I'm curious what happened to this window. Is is still there (and you can see through it from inside) or has it really been bricked up?
> 
> I'm guessing it's the former, but the brickwork does look very convincing...
> 
> View attachment 126288



Interestingly, if you look at the rolled back StreetView data from the refurb in May 2015, you can see a bit more of the structure: Google Maps

I would guess that it was removed and bricked up.


----------



## Twattor (Jan 29, 2018)

editor said:


> OK, so this is only history dating back ten years, but I'm curious what happened to this window. Is is still there (and you can see through it from inside) or has it really been bricked up?
> 
> I'm guessing it's the former, but the brickwork does look very convincing...
> 
> View attachment 126288


it was bricked-up.  They took the whole facade off and rebuilt it.

Love the google maps timeline showing the various iterations.


----------



## lang rabbie (Jan 30, 2018)

editor said:


> OK, so this is only history dating back ten years, but I'm curious what happened to this window. Is is still there (and you can see through it from inside) or has it really been bricked up?
> 
> I'm guessing it's the former, but the brickwork does look very convincing...
> 
> View attachment 126288



It is a lot easier to meet the sound-proofing conditions now standard for a music venue licence if you have a brick wall facing the street rather than a single glazed window.  (And brickwork is a *lot* cheaper than triple-glazed sealed window units that would be needed to achieve similar noise limiting on that scale.)


----------



## editor (Jan 30, 2018)

Lovely snowy scenes from 15 years ago in Brixton 























Brixton 15 Years Ago: Heavy snow, igloo in Brockwell park, snowman and street scenes, January 2003


----------



## editor (Jan 31, 2018)

Some more Brixton history
















Brixton Ten Years Ago: The old car park, Marquis of Lorne, street scenes, lost pubs and a shocking murder, Jan 2008


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## Angellic (Jan 31, 2018)

editor said:


> Some more Brixton history
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Love the photograph of the cart/'covered wagon'.


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## RoyReed (Feb 6, 2018)

I had a quick look through the whole thread and I don't think these have been on before. Mainly Edwardian postcards.

This first lot are all of Acre Lane.


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## RoyReed (Feb 6, 2018)

Greigs on Atlantic Road


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## RoyReed (Feb 6, 2018)




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## editor (Feb 6, 2018)

I'm currently working on 'then and now' articles for some of those images (a few have already featured too)...


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 7, 2018)

editor said:


> I'm currently working on 'then and now' articles for some of those images (a few have already featured too)...





i'll take a closer look at them tomorrow and try and put dates to the ones with trams in - from a quick look, the one with T1620 on the caption is the most recent, maybe around 1910.  The first two in post 1027 look like cable trams, the second two the early days of electric trams.


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## editor (Feb 7, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> i'll take a closer look at them tomorrow and try and put dates to the ones with trams in - from a quick look, the one with T1620 on the caption is the most recent, maybe around 1910.  The first two in post 1027 look like cable trams, the second two the early days of electric trams.


The majority will be from around 1905-14 when it seems such cards were all the rage.


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 7, 2018)

editor said:


> The majority will be from around 1905-14 when it seems such cards were all the rage.



Indeed - just trying to narrow it down a bit (and of course postcards can be published /posted some time after the photo was taken)

Having done a bit of research -

Brixton Road T1620 - after 1905 but no later than 1911 (one of the second or third batch of 4 wheel electric tram, delivered in open top form but soon given a covered top - the 'reversed staircase' was eliminated by 1911)

Brixton Road - tram 911 and ?77 - these are cable trams, photos taken after 1899 (when a 'gripper' mechanism was fitted directly to the trams - prior to that they had been hauled by separate 'gripper cars' between Kennington and Streatham - horses taking over at the central London end) but no later than April 1904 when cable operation ended.  

White Horse Corner and the one below it show electric trams in their original condition, so mid 1904 onward (the first stage of conversion from cable to electric conduit required a closure from 5 April to 30 May 1904) - probably not many years after that, as top covers started being fitted in 1905.

This has a copy of the White Horse photo and says it's 1905 - although lists Mr Budd as licensee of the pub in 1905 PO directory - picture shows name of Chapman above the door - presume it changed hands that year.


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## editor (Feb 7, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> White Horse Corner and the one below it show electric trams in their original condition, so mid 1904 onward (the first stage of conversion from cable to electric conduit required a closure from 5 April to 30 May 1904) - probably not many years after that, as top covers started being fitted in 1905.
> 
> This has a copy of the White Horse photo and says it's 1905 - although lists Mr Budd as licensee of the pub in 1905 PO directory - picture shows name of Chapman above the door - presume it changed hands that year.


I did a fair bit of research in the White Horse here  - and took my own pic of their old clock!

In photos: Brixton Jamm (formerly the White Horse) as seen in Edwardian postcards


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## sealion (Feb 7, 2018)

editor Do you know the history of the two staues on either platform at brixton overhead ? They are quite moving in an odd sort of way. Sadly some twat has Sprayed some pink paint on them


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## editor (Feb 7, 2018)

sealion said:


> editor Do you know the history of the two staues on either platform at brixton overhead ? They are quite moving in an odd sort of way. Sadly some twat has Sprayed some pink paint on them


There's three of them in total:



> The sculptures by Kevin Atherton (b.1959) were made of three volunteers who regularly used the station (Peter Lloyd, Joy Battick and Karin Heistermann), and were unveiled on 30th June 1986 by Sir Hugh Casson as part of a £1m renovation of the overground station













Waiting passenger sculptures, Brixton railway station
The bronze passengers on Brixton Station


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 7, 2018)

Stretching to what the estate agents might call 'Brixton borders', this view of Southville / Priory Grove c. 1952 appeared on Flickr today



site is now Larkhall Park - created in the 1950s as part of the County of London Plan to add parks in "areas deficient of open space" (and it was supposed to be quite a big bigger) - more here.


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## CH1 (Feb 7, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> I had a quick look through the whole thread and I don't think these have been on before. Mainly Edwardian postcards.
> This first lot are all of Acre Lane.
> View attachment 126882
> View attachment 126883
> ...


I find it impossible to place these. Acre Lane has changed more than most roads in Brixton have.

There is a connection with Mervyn Peake, the gothic novelist. His wife Maeve was brought up in "a large house on Acre Lane, Brixton"
*Maeve Gilmore*
1918 – 1983
The youngest of six, Maeve, like Mervyn, had a medical doctor for a father and was brought up at a large house in Acre Lane , Brixton, South London , where her father had his practice. So-called, as at the time all the houses were surrounded by an acre of land, the family later moved across the river to Chelsea Square from where after convent boarding school at St Leonards on Sea, Sussex, she attended a finishing school in Switzerland . Here she learnt to speak fluent German and French and became a good pianist; her favourite music being that of Johann Sebastian Bach whose piano pieces would resound around the many houses she lived in after marrying Mervyn Peake. A fine painter and sculptor in her own right she also wrote several short stories, and had numerous one-woman exhibitions in London before dedicating her life to the well-being and support of her husband, following the onset of his illnesses. She would paint every day in her studio where the cat would sit watching as the canvases developed into works of art which, following her husband’s death in 1968, often emitted a powerful sense of injustice. Her memoir, _A World Away, _is often cited as one of the most poignant insights into marriage, life, and the joie de vivre of early life with a genius ever written, and remains in print decades after first being published.


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 7, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> site is now Larkhall Park - created in the 1950s as part of the County of London Plan to add parks in "areas deficient of open space" (and it was supposed to be quite a big bigger) - more here.



and seems to have been a plan for a continuous park from Southwark Park to Larkhall Park








i'm now contemplating whether I need copy of the original whole thing...


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## CH1 (Feb 7, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> and seems to have been a plan for a continuous park from Southwark Park to Larkhall Park
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks like that was compensation for the Southern Cross Route of Ringway 1.
I admit having a vested interest, but I'm glad Ringway 1 bit the dust though naturally I'm also disappointed that the parks never got linked.


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## technical (Feb 8, 2018)

editor said:


> There's three of them in total:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



All three statues are now Grade II listed


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## editor (Feb 8, 2018)

technical said:


> All three statues are now Grade II listed


That's another project of mine that has stalled: 

Listed buildings of Brixton: Grand houses at 213-225, Brixton Road, SW9

If anyone fancies doing a piece on a listed structure they like, get in touch!


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## editor (Feb 8, 2018)

Two centuries of Coldharbour Lane history: 






Brixton history: Halnaker Lodge at 372 Coldharbour Lane – From Georgian splendour to dole office to community squat to luxury flats


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 9, 2018)

today's from Chris Stanley on flickr 



a soggy Effra Road, possibly 1952.

the assorted ironmongery in the roadway is a selection of tram 'ploughs' - this was the 'change pit' for the Norwood route where trams changed from operating on the conduit system to the overhead wire.  The conductor has already put the pole on the wire ready for the last stage of the journey to Norwood, and as the tram moves forward, the plough will slide out to join the stack in the middle of the road, and will be fed under a northbound tram.


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## happyshopper (Feb 10, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> The conductor has already put the pole on the wire ready for the last stage of the journey to Norwood, and as the tram moves forward, the plough will slide out to join the stack in the middle of the road, and will be fed under a northbound tram.



But this tram is going to Streatham.


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 10, 2018)

happyshopper said:


> But this tram is going to Streatham.





the picture i can see the tram is showing 33 West Norwood (and there's an Esso sign to the right of the tram)

are you getting a different picture?


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## editor (Feb 10, 2018)

The 33 used to travel through the Kingsway subway and emerge at the Embankment.
The Kingsway Tram Tunnel and station, Holborn, London, England, October 2009


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## editor (Feb 10, 2018)

Another history feature: 

Brixton History: Bloaters, kippers and live eels at Reveley Ice Merchants, 148 Acre Lane


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## CH1 (Feb 10, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> the picture i can see the tram is showing 33 West Norwood (and there's an Esso sign to the right of the tram)
> are you getting a different picture?


Thinking about it the Esso sign must be for the garage which used to be on Rushcroft Road (back of the Orange Coach station - don't go there!) all now subsumed into Windrush Sq.


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## happyshopper (Feb 10, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> the picture i can see the tram is showing 33 West Norwood (and there's an Esso sign to the right of the tram)
> 
> are you getting a different picture?



You're right. Apologies.


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 10, 2018)

from robnitm on tweeter today - 1971






think the bus was in the process of being transferred from Brixton garage to somewhere else, hence the absence of any destination blinds


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## ricbake (Feb 10, 2018)

What is the sign on that mini van about?


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 11, 2018)

ricbake said:


> What is the sign on that mini van about?



dunno.  can't find any reference to anything film / music related from the right sort of time.

today's is herne hill, 1952


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 19, 2018)

on tweeter today from rob baker (linkage) - dated 1952

consensus seems to be that building at the right of photo is carlton mansions when it was the end of a terrace (1950 map here)


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 19, 2018)

and from flickr



has already had a reference added to editor's brixton buzz page about quin and axten


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## northeast (Feb 19, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> I had a quick look through the whole thread and I don't think these have been on before. Mainly Edwardian postcards.
> 
> This first lot are all of Acre Lane.
> 
> ...



Think the top and bottom ones of Acre Lane are taken just near the Timber and Builders Merchant. First one is a little further up the road. Hopefully this link shows where i think it was roughly taken from Google Maps. Shops on the right are now the tyre repairs, DIY store and a Paint shop. The white pillars on the right helped place it.


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## editor (Feb 19, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today from rob baker (linkage) - dated 1952
> 
> consensus seems to be that building at the right of photo is carlton mansions when it was the end of a terrace (1950 map here)


Yes, I'm pretty sure it's Coldharbour Lane with Carlton Mansions to the right.


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## ricbake (Feb 20, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


>


This was taken from Gresham Road - can see through to the houses on Bellefields Road, across the gap where Blue Star House now stands


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## editor (Feb 23, 2018)

Brixton 15 years ago in photos:

















Brixton Fifteen Years Ago: Brockwell Snow, Brixton Village, Pope’s Road and Lido photos, Feb 2003


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 26, 2018)

Corner of Dalberg Road / Brixton Water Lane, some time early 50s



and  at hardly being able to see the join now no. 87 has been rebuilt to match next door (current street view here)


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## teuchter (Feb 26, 2018)

The 50s arrangement of the buildings on that corner is a lot more  than the current one in my opinion. Pretty much everything of interest has gone. Would have been better just to knock it down and build something new.


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## northeast (Feb 27, 2018)

T


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## editor (Feb 27, 2018)

Nice quote here:



> In the fifties and early sixties, Brixton was where all the variety artists lived, comedians, singers, ventriloquists, acrobats, entertainers. Pre-TV, variety was the only entertainment there was for ordinary people, and with the Brixton Empress and the Camberwell Palace being less than a mile away, Brixton was the hub. Over the road from us were the fire-eater and a juggler. A dog act, a man called Reg, lived in a caravan in a bombsite behind our road and I used to play with his little girl.
> 
> Winifred Atwell - The Amazing Honky Tonk Woman - Flashbak


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 28, 2018)

from robnitm on tweeter today






"Thatcher Is Guilty" - Brixton, 1984. Photo by Mark McNestry.


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 3, 2018)

tram and route 3 buses passing the Brockwell Park Tavern (now the Florence) on Dulwich Road - approx 1951/2


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 7, 2018)

bit further down dulwich road


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 8, 2018)

another 33 tram - at effra road change pit getting its plough to continue towards central london on the conduit system


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## RoyReed (Mar 11, 2018)

Graffiti in Brixton from the late 1970s.




Smash Nazi NF Scum by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Smash Fascisn & Racism by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Anarchy Now by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Guy Fawkes Lives by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Fight for the Right by Roy Reed, on Flickr


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## RoyReed (Mar 11, 2018)

And a few more.




SPG Killed Blair Peach by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Angry by Roy Reed, on Flickr




SWP Workers Power by Roy Reed, on Flickr




We Hate You, You Cunts by Roy Reed, on Flickr


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## GarveyLives (Mar 12, 2018)

> Blacker Dread film trailer.
> 
> "Fusspottery"... "I allow you to touch my hair if you allow me to touch your breasts"...


Excellent response.


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## Gramsci (Mar 12, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> Graffiti in Brixton from the late 1970s.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This is great collection of photos.


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## RoyReed (Mar 12, 2018)

Gramsci said:


> This is great collection of photos.



Thanks - there's lots more in this album on Flickr, mainly from London and most dating from between 1975 and 1985. I've got about another 140 to scan to add to the collection, but I don't think I'll be doing another batch for a couple of weeks.


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## Pickman's model (Mar 12, 2018)




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## editor (Mar 12, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> Thanks - there's lots more in this album on Flickr, mainly from London and most dating from between 1975 and 1985. I've got about another 140 to scan to add to the collection, but I don't think I'll be doing another batch for a couple of weeks.


I'd love to share them on Brixton Buzz as a feature, if you're up for it?


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## RoyReed (Mar 12, 2018)

editor said:


> I'd love to share them on Brixton Buzz as a feature, if you're up for it?



I'd be happy for that, but could you wait for a few weeks until I've scanned the rest of them as I think there are some more Brixton ones to be done.


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## editor (Mar 12, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> I'd be happy for that, but could you wait for a few weeks until I've scanned the rest of them as I think there are some more Brixton ones to be done.


No problem - or you could do a small series? I just need them 620 pixels wide along with any links/credit you need. It would be great to add your stuff to the Brixton archives already on the site!


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## RoyReed (Mar 12, 2018)

editor said:


> No problem - or you could do a small series? I just need them 620 pixels wide along with any links/credit you need. It would be great to add your stuff to the Brixton archives already on the site!



I'd rather wait until I've got them all done. I won't have access to my scanner for two weeks, but I'll try to get them done soon after that and I'll do the rest of the Brixton ones first.


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 14, 2018)

Electric Avenue, 1975

posted by Old London on tweeter


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## editor (Mar 15, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Electric Avenue, 1975
> 
> posted by Old London on tweeter


That old Market Row sign is way better than their current advertising.


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## Fozzie Bear (Mar 15, 2018)




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## editor (Mar 15, 2018)

Brixton 15 years ago 





















Brixton 15 Years Ago: Stop The War, street scenes and the wonderful Windrush Square fountain, March 2003


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## CH1 (Mar 15, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Electric Avenue, 1975
> 
> posted by Old London on tweeter


I remember the Consumer Advice Centre. Run by Lambeth Council it had a chart in the window of essential grocery items - and the prices at about four local supermarkets, so you could home in on the bargains! Can you imagine the council employing people to do such noble work in this day and age?


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## Gramsci (Mar 16, 2018)

Fozzie Bear said:


>




That's a great article. Covers a lot of ground and gives a feel of what Brixton ( and a lot of London) was like then.

Essential background information to understand why the 81 riots happened. This has been brewing since early seventies.

Its depressing that after all of that struggle and resistance  it's economic "progress" that's now getting rid of working class and Black communities from central London. Not the police or fascists like NF.


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## Gramsci (Mar 16, 2018)

editor said:


> Brixton 15 years ago
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The fountain was great. And as u say actually worked. Unlike the one that's replaced it. All that money spent on Windrush Square and its not really an improvement on what was there before.


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## editor (Mar 27, 2018)

The footage isn't that interesting but it shows you just how much busier Brixton is these days



(Oh and don't read the YouTube comments unless you want to get depressed).


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## editor (Mar 27, 2018)

Some history: 






Brixton history: Bon Marche department store in the Edwardian sun – and the straw boater riot


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 29, 2018)

Past Tense have published something today about what may have been the start of the squatting movement in Brixton, 1969

More at 

Today in London squatting history, 1969: Brixton’s first squatters? Empty offices occupied.


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## editor (Mar 29, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Past Tense have published something today about what may have been the start of the squatting movement in Brixton, 1969
> 
> More at
> 
> Today in London squatting history, 1969: Brixton’s first squatters? Empty offices occupied.


Lovely stuff!



> _The squatters, all local people, passed their time listening to the radio, playing football and putting records on a record player they’d brought with them. At lunch-time fish and chips and bottles of beer were hoisted up by rope from outside. Rubbish was put in a Lambeth Council paper sack they had brought in with them. ‘We want to be as tidy as possible,’ said Mr Gibbon.
> 
> During the day, the squatters gave out over 7,000 leaflets in the Brixton shopping centre. One West Indian bus conductor said, ‘Give me a heap man. I’ll give them out to the lads when I get to the garage at Croydon.’ The leaflet said: ‘Some people try to blame immigrants for the housing shortage but we know we had lousy houses in Britain before we ever saw a black face or heard an Irish accent. The real for the housing shortage is that a small group of people make millions of pounds out of our need for a decent home.’_


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 29, 2018)

> _Some people try to blame immigrants for the housing shortage but we know we had lousy houses in Britain before we ever saw a black face or heard an Irish accent. The real for the housing shortage is that a small group of people make millions of pounds out of our need for a decent home.’_



 at 50 years of 'progress'


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## friendofdorothy (Mar 30, 2018)

editor said:


> The footage isn't that interesting but it shows you just how much busier Brixton is these days
> 
> 
> 
> (Oh and don't read the YouTube comments unless you want to get depressed).



that is an exceptionally dull video.


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## CH1 (Mar 30, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Past Tense have published something today about what may have been the start of the squatting movement in Brixton, 1969
> More at
> Today in London squatting history, 1969: Brixton’s first squatters? Empty offices occupied.


I'm just wondering where this is. We know that the Brixton Register Office used to be at 340 Brixton Road (the building is still there, but now converted by Lexadon into flats). It seems likely that by the time of the article 336 Brixton Road had been built, or was under construction.
Which suggests to me that the building being squatted here was in due course demolished and replaced by Bedwell House (part of Stockwell Park Estate fronting onto Brixton Road).


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 31, 2018)

CH1 said:


> I'm just wondering where this is. We know that the Brixton Register Office used to be at 340 Brixton Road (the building is still there, but now converted by Lexadon into flats). It seems likely that by the time of the article 336 Brixton Road had been built, or was under construction.
> Which suggests to me that the building being squatted here was in due course demolished and replaced by Bedwell House (part of Stockwell Park Estate fronting onto Brixton Road).



1950s map here

shows the shape of 336 / 338 Brixton Road as was (now the 336 Brixton Road building which looks like it dates from the 1970s) - think Bedwell House starts where 342 Brixton Road was.

Map doesn't show specific uses of these buildings, and I don't have a street directory recent enough to be worth looking at


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## CH1 (Mar 31, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> 1950s map here
> 
> shows the shape of 336 / 338 Brixton Road as was (now the 336 Brixton Road building which looks like it dates from the 1970s) - think Bedwell House starts where 342 Brixton Road was.
> 
> Map doesn't show specific uses of these buildings, and I don't have a street directory recent enough to be worth looking at


In that case could have been any of 332-342 maybe.
Would be interesting if there are any archive photos of these. Maybe Coutts might - they seem to have a soft spot for 336 as former owners.


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## RoyReed (Mar 31, 2018)

Here's the second batch of Brixton graffiti photos from the late 1970s.




Up With Hindrance by Roy Reed, on Flickr




No Immigration Controls - No Wage Controls by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Ban The Bomb by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Vote Bogues SWP by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Anarchy Now by Roy Reed, on Flickr




SWP Vote Bogues by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Hands Off Walpole by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Death To All Rapists! by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Hands Off Our Bodies by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Be a Moth - Get Burned to Death by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Castrate Rapists! by Roy Reed, on Flickr

editor Do you still want me to send you these for Brixton Buzz?


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## editor (Mar 31, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> Here's the second batch of Brixton graffiti photos from the late 1970s.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Definitely! Send over what you like (and any background text,  contact/credit info) and I'd be well chuffed to post them. 
brixtonbuzz -at- gmail.com


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## RoyReed (Mar 31, 2018)

editor said:


> Definitely! Send over what you like (and any background text,  contact/credit info) and I'd be well chuffed to post them.
> brixtonbuzz -at- gmail.com


PM sent.


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## friendofdorothy (Mar 31, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> 1950s map here
> 
> shows the shape of 336 / 338 Brixton Road as was (now the 336 Brixton Road building which looks like it dates from the 1970s) - think Bedwell House starts where 342 Brixton Road was.
> 
> Map doesn't show specific uses of these buildings, and I don't have a street directory recent enough to be worth looking at


 wasn't 336 Coutts bank computer building back then?


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 31, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> wasn't 336 Coutts bank computer building back then?



in a word, dunno - and depends just when we're talking.  are we talking the building that's now 336 (looks kinda 1970s but i've no reference material to go on) or in the 60s?


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## friendofdorothy (Mar 31, 2018)

CH1 said:


> In that case could have been any of 332-342 maybe.
> Would be interesting if there are any archive photos of these. Maybe Coutts might - they seem to have a soft spot for 336 as former owners.


Hi CH1 where you here then? do you recall when coutts had this building


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 31, 2018)

ah

a well respected brixton based blog has this piece that says coutts moved in in 1971 after the place had originally been built as a warehouse.  doesn't say when the darn place was built though...

ETA - this does - 1967, which kinda louses up the idea of the original 336 being squatted a year or two later


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## friendofdorothy (Mar 31, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> ah
> 
> a well respected brixton based blog has this piece that says coutts moved in in 1971 after the place had originally been built as a warehouse.  doesn't say when the darn place was built though...
> 
> ETA - this does - 1967, which kinda louses up the idea of the original 336 being squatted a year or two later


there were other buildings on brixton rd that have long since demolished.


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## CH1 (Apr 1, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> Hi CH1 where you here then? do you recall when coutts had this building


I moved to Brixton in 1978 (December). Possibly Coutts might still have been there, but I did'nt get familiar with the building until 1990 when I got a job there, when it was a disability "hub" as Lambeth Council would now say.

So to be quite truthful I was unaware of Villa Road squats, or 336 Brixton Road in 1978 - though I used to dine in the Rose Cafe (now changed to part of Turtle Bay). Opposite that shopping parade Lambeth Council were busy refurbishing Angell Terrace to turn it into social housing. Amazing isn't it? I bet they are busy selling off Angell Terrace, unless they already have.


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## SpamMisery (Apr 1, 2018)

I looked round a flat on Angell Terrace. It was the standard squeezed affair. I imagine a developer would love to get their hands on the block.


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## RoyReed (Apr 5, 2018)

Does anyone have any photographs showing the Butlin's advert that used to be underneath the Bovril sign in Windrush Square? You can still just see some faint traces of it in blue on the photos below - notably the distinctive script apostrophe 's' and '...AMPS' on the line below (which presumably said 'HOLIDAY CAMPS'). I've searched all of the usual archives and have come up with nothing.




Bovril by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Butlin's by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Butlin's by Roy Reed, on Flickr


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## editor (Apr 18, 2018)

Overton Road in its Edwardian glory.


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## editor (Apr 18, 2018)

Brixton 15 years ago 


























Brixton 15 Years Ago: Street scenes, closed pubs, Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill photos, April 2003


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## editor (Apr 18, 2018)

editor said:


> Brixton 15 years ago
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Incidentally, The Sun offered me money to run these photos on their website yesterday. I told them to sling their 'ook.


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## ricbake (Apr 18, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> Does anyone have any photographs showing the Butlin's advert that used to be underneath the Bovril sign in Windrush Square? You can still just see some faint traces of it in blue on the photos below - notably the distinctive script apostrophe 's' and '...AMPS' on the line below (which presumably said 'HOLIDAY CAMPS'). I've searched all of the usual archives and have come up with nothing.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Found this earlier version on the Brixton Society website

http://www.brixtonsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/EOT-Rushcroft+garage.jpg


"One detail you may still recognize on that picture, courtesy of _Lambeth Landmark_.  The background to the bus garage environment was already known as the ‘Bovril wall’. Then as now, people were interested in prime advertising spaces. Faded with age, now a ghost sign, Bovril is towering above Windrush Square proudly facing the clock tower. What’s next for the Bovril wall? "

The type of Bovril and it's position look different but it does appear to be the same bit of wall
It is surprising how the brickwork looks today considering it isn't visible at all in this picture.


----------



## northeast (Apr 19, 2018)

editor said:


> Incidentally, The Sun offered me money to run these photos on their website yesterday. I told them to sling their 'ook.


Good for you


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 25, 2018)

Past Tense (S London based radical history project) have put out a pamphlet 'Trouble Down South' - "_Some thoughts on gentrification & resistance to gentrification in Brixton, with historical digressions, experiences, and some ranting..._"

available for cost of postage - more here.


----------



## editor (Apr 25, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Past Tense (S London based radical history project) have put out a pamphlet 'Trouble Down South' - "_Some thoughts on gentrification & resistance to gentrification in Brixton, with historical digressions, experiences, and some ranting..._"
> 
> available for cost of postage - more here.


I'll give it a go to support them even though it'll probably just end up making me even more pissed off at the growing  inequality in Brixton.  
*ordered


----------



## SpamMisery (Apr 25, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Past Tense (S London based radical history project) have put out a pamphlet 'Trouble Down South' - "_Some thoughts on gentrification & resistance to gentrification in Brixton, with historical digressions, experiences, and some ranting..._"
> 
> available for cost of postage - more here.



Annoying they want to give it away for free except the cost of postage but don't seem make it available to read on their website


----------



## editor (May 6, 2018)

Bit about the Ritzy:








Brixton history: The Electric Pavilion (Ritzy) before the First World War


----------



## editor (May 14, 2018)

Interesting pic showing the installation of a conduit for the tram in Brixton Road c 1907.


----------



## editor (May 14, 2018)

A leafy Acre Lane as seen from the Town Hall around 1910


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 14, 2018)

editor said:


> Interesting pic showing the installation of a conduit for the tram in Brixton Road c 1907.



not quite sure about that.

the third one i've seen before and yes it's brixton - think the track is under repair rather than being installed - the cable system was replaced by electric conduit rather rapidly in 1904.  the tram looks slightly later than that.

the middle one can't be 1907 - there's a belisha beacon to the right, and they didn't come in until the 30s.  I also don't think it's Brixton - see the 5th photo in this set - new tracks being laid around the south side of Westminster Bridge during 1950 for a new road layout (much to London Transport's annoyance as by that time they knew it would only be in place with trams for a couple of years)

i'm not sure that the top one isn't from the same general location / time as well.


----------



## editor (May 15, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> not quite sure about that.
> 
> the third one i've seen before and yes it's brixton - think the track is under repair rather than being installed - the cable system was replaced by electric conduit rather rapidly in 1904.  the tram looks slightly later than that.
> 
> ...


Yes, it's just the bottom one showing Brixton but the image came in a batch of three and it was interesting to see what goes on under the road!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 15, 2018)

editor said:


> No it's just the bottom one showing Brixton but the image came in a batch of three and it was interesting to see what goes on under the road.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 22, 2018)

students in action at the London County Council School of Building, 1939

on tweeter today from London Metropolitan Archives

(on Ferndale Road - Street View here)


----------



## editor (May 25, 2018)

Added a piece on Herne Hill






Herne Hill history – Edwardian postcards, a long-lost cinema and horse drawn traffic


----------



## editor (May 30, 2018)

Fifteen years ago 





















Brixton 15 years ago: lost bars, street scenes, evictions, Red Records and more, May 2003


----------



## sealion (May 30, 2018)

A bit on Brixton night life way back
History is made at night: 1987: dancing in Brixton and beyond


----------



## editor (Jun 6, 2018)

A piece about Holmewood Road: 







Brixton History – a hundred years of Holmewood Road, Brixton, SW2


----------



## editor (Jun 26, 2018)

Brixton 15 years ago: 
















Brixton 15 years ago: Hamilton Arms, Bar Lorca and street scenes, June 2003


----------



## editor (Jun 28, 2018)

Ten years ago 





















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Brockwell Park, Jamm, Prince Albert, Lido and sunny scenes, June 2008


----------



## editor (Jul 2, 2018)

I think this is the same angle as the postcard. What do others think?


----------



## CH1 (Jul 2, 2018)

Same view - but nobody could possibly say these infill developments recreate the original streetscape.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 2, 2018)

editor said:


> I think this is the same angle as the postcard. What do others think?



yes - 

1 - can just about make out 'Hinton Road' at first floor level on Mr Davies' shop

2 - the (horse) tram tracks match 1894 mapping (Hinton Road tramway did not get electrified) 

3 - 1911 London Suburbs directory has 223 Coldharbour Lane (corner of Hinton Road) as "Davies, Alfred William, baker"


----------



## editor (Jul 2, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> yes -
> 
> 1 - can just about make out 'Hinton Road' at first floor level on Mr Davies' shop
> 
> ...


I'd love to see what Loughborough House looked like when it was new. All its character has been destroyed in its recent shoddy conversion. .


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 3, 2018)

1950 map suggests that some of the demolition may have been done from above

and the ...ON on 214 probably Mr Ohlson, pawnbroker / second hand clothes dealer - as in this here brixton buzz piece a while back

ETA - 

At that time, Loughborough Junction would have had all six platforms (the two still in use, two on the Loughborough Road curve and two on the Cambria Road curve) in business.

LCDR wording on the bridge suggests possibly not too long after the LCDR and the South Eastern entered joint management as the South Eastern and Chatham in 1898, but not sure how quickly they 're-branded' in those days.

Horse tram track says definitely before 1914 - it's a bit late to start searching out the works of reference on this.

Not sure why the Prince of Wales feathers on no. 224 (shop on corner of Loughborough Road) - 1911 directory puts this as "Barlow, Francis Robt. chemist"


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 3, 2018)

further edits today - 

South Eastern and Chatham Railway identity started 1899 not 1898

The tramway in the photograph is part of the network of the London Southern Tramways Company - Loughborough Junction was effectively the centre of their network, with lines to Camberwell Green, Vauxhall (via Stockwell Road), Brixton (terminus was Coldharbour Lane just before the junction with Brixton Road) and via Milkwood Road and Tulse Hill to West Norwood.

The tram depot on premises behind the 'Old Queens Head' on Stockwell Road (which I think has been mentioned somewhere on Urban) was one of theirs, and some of the railway arches around Loughborough Junction were used as stables / granary / workshops.

Their line towards West Norwood opened as far as Herne Hill in 1884, and through to Norwood in 1885.

The Company was taken over by the London County Council in 1906, and the lines rebuilt and electrified - Coldharbour Lane going electric in 1908 and to West Norwood in 1909.  The low railway bridge in Hinton Road meant that the route was diverted via Herne Hill Road / Wanless Road for electric trams.

(above from E R Oakley's history of the LCC Tramways)

So to put it another way, the photo must date from somewhere between 1884 - 1908.

List of shops from the 1904 London Suburbs Directory (online in Leicester University collections)

north side

 


south  side


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 4, 2018)

An update from the Tramway Village at Crich, Derbyshire - a London tram which spent much of its working life in the Brixton patch is coming together as part of an extensive restoration






(picture from British Trams Online)

London County Council no. 1 was new in 1932 as a prototype for a new generation of trams, and had a one-off blue / white livery - leading to it being known as 'Bluebird' (even after it reverted to standard red livery) - the new generation of trams didn't happen in London, as London Transport decided to convert tram routes to trolleybus operation instead.

It was first based at Holloway depot, and ran on Kingsway Subway routes including 33 to Norwood via Brixton.






(picture from LT Museum collection)

In the late 30s, it moved to Streatham Hill depot, and after the end of trams in London, it ran until 1959 in Leeds.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 9, 2018)

on Tweeter today


----------



## editor (Jul 13, 2018)

I'd love to find a non watermarked version of this


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 14, 2018)

editor said:


> View attachment 141071
> 
> I'd love to find a non watermarked version of this





can pin that photo down to somewhere between 1909 (LD registrations issued - source here) and 1914 when London's last horse buses ran

1895 map here (it also shows the horse tram line to the west end of Coldharbour Lane which was abandoned at the time of electrification, due to the low bridge.)


----------



## CH1 (Jul 14, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> can pin that photo down to somewhere between 1909 (LD registrations issued - source here) and 1914 when London's last horse buses ran
> 1895 map here (it also shows the horse tram line to the west end of Coldharbour Lane which was abandoned at the time of electrification, due to the low bridge.)


That Savoy Turkish bath place looks very exotic. There must be room for a student dissertation on Edwardian Orientalism here.


----------



## editor (Jul 14, 2018)

CH1 said:


> That Savoy Turkish bath place looks very exotic. There must be room for a student dissertation on Edwardian Orientalism here.


I did a load of research on that place: Brixton history: Rance’s And Savoy Turkish Baths at 461 Brixton Road


----------



## Favelado (Jul 19, 2018)

editor said:


> Fifteen years ago
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This is the Brixton I know. I felt quite emotional looking at those photos. Despite their ordinariness, they took me back. I rarely miss London in general, but Brixton has a special place in my heart in a way that only one or two neighbourhoods in the world do (Rocinha in Rio is the other main one really).

I wish I could go back there and then for a day, or maybe a few weeks.


----------



## editor (Jul 25, 2018)

Brixton 15 years ago 
















Brixton 15 Years Ago: Lambeth Country Show, street scenes and Alfie the Town Crier, July 2003


----------



## editor (Jul 26, 2018)

Before the Great Wall of Brockwell went up:
















My how things have changed: Brixton Ten Years Ago: Lambeth Country Show in photos, July 2008


----------



## Favelado (Jul 26, 2018)

i was in the tube station last Christmas and I missed the old takeaway place that used to be at the station before its renovation. I used to pick up a chicken pattie in cocoa bread to eat on the Victoria Line to town.


----------



## editor (Jul 31, 2018)

Piece on the town hall 







Lambeth Town Hall – a bit of Brixton history


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 31, 2018)

early 1951 (part way through the tram to bus conversion scheme - bus 95 was new in January 1951, tram 16 / 18 became bus 109 in April 1951)

Not many tram stops in London had 'loading islands' like this - allowing passengers to get on / off the tram safely in the middle of the road

from this collection - mostly from the Clapham / Brixton / Streatham / Croydon patch


----------



## Favelado (Jul 31, 2018)

editor said:


> Piece on the town hall
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Christ. MacDonalds doesn't look quite as good on the corner does it? How beautiful were shopfronts back then?


----------



## editor (Aug 3, 2018)

Little feature here Brixton history: Electric Avenue and its elegant canopies


----------



## editor (Aug 4, 2018)

Cracking pic this: 






Brixton history: Edwardian view of Fiveways on Loughborough Road, SW9


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 4, 2018)

editor said:


> Cracking pic this:



Had to look up 'Cooper' - seems to have been Ind Coope's 'special nourishing stout' (possibly their take on 'porter') advertised as used in certain hospitals






(don't think you can get beer on the modern NHS -  )

confirmation of the shops etc from Kellys' 1904 'London County Suburbs Directory' (public domain via Leicester University collection)

  

Wiltshire Road is now Fiveways Road

1895 map (National Library of Scotland collection) here

And more about the street fire alarm (visible under the 'milkmaid' advert) system here - they were phased out after the 999 number was introduced in the 1930s.


----------



## editor (Aug 10, 2018)

Another postcard view: 






Brixton history: Brixton Road by Handforth Road, the Oval, over a hundred years ago


----------



## Fozzie Bear (Aug 14, 2018)

Today in London policing history, 1984: cops raid anarchist 121 Centre, Brixton, looking for guns…


----------



## friendofdorothy (Aug 14, 2018)

Fozzie Bear said:


> Today in London policing history, 1984: cops raid anarchist 121 Centre, Brixton, looking for guns…


I remember going to some lesbian evenings there probably some time between 1985- 1990 - can't recall many details only they were fairly dull. Sounds like I missed the more interesting bits.


----------



## editor (Aug 14, 2018)

Fozzie Bear said:


> Today in London policing history, 1984: cops raid anarchist 121 Centre, Brixton, looking for guns…


I'm still waiting for the payment for some of my fanzines they sold there!


----------



## Fozzie Bear (Aug 14, 2018)

editor said:


> I'm still waiting for the payment for some of my fanzines they sold there!



You might want to have a word with your accountant about writing that one off


----------



## RoyReed (Aug 17, 2018)

I've worked out what the ghostsign for Royalty Rackets on Blenheim Gardens would have looked like when new.


----------



## editor (Aug 17, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> I've worked out what the ghostsign for Royalty Rackets on Blenheim Gardens would have looked like when new.
> 
> View attachment 144314
> 
> View attachment 144315


That's brilliant work! Have you researched the company?


----------



## RoyReed (Aug 17, 2018)

editor said:


> That's brilliant work! Have you researched the company?


I can't find anything on them at all.

I've done a few more ghostsign reconstructions: ReedDesign» Blog Archive » Clapham Ghostsigns Re-imagined


----------



## editor (Aug 17, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> I can't find anything on them at all.


There's a small entry here: 



> *Royalty rackets, Brixton*
> 
> The start of the Wimbledon fortnight gives me the perfect opportunity to post a ghost sign promoting a tennis racket manufacturer. However contrary to the advert for En Tout Cas, which was strategically placed between Southfields station and the tennis courts, this one is nowhere near SW19. It was painted on the premises occupied by H. E. Hayward and Co, whose leading brand was Royalty Rackets.
> I doubt this was a very successful company. The only document available online in which it is mentioned is a 1950 issue of _The Builder_, in which we learn that consent has be given to alter H. E. Hayward's building. Was any Royalty Racket ever used by a player at Wimbledon? Maybe not.
> Painted signs and mosaics: Royalty rackets, Brixton


----------



## RoyReed (Aug 17, 2018)

editor said:


> There's a small entry here:


Yes, Sebastien came up with not very much either. If he can't find it, it probably doesn't exist.


----------



## editor (Aug 20, 2018)

Coming up: Lambeth Heritage Festival showcases local history during September 2018


----------



## friendofdorothy (Aug 20, 2018)

love this from the brochure:


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 20, 2018)

editor said:


> Coming up: Lambeth Heritage Festival showcases local history during September 2018





and more in Lambeth and beyond over weekend of 22 / 23 September for London Open House weekend - listing released tomorrow. 

Some places still seeking volunteer stewards (generally doing meet / greet / basic front of house sort of stuff - half a day is the usual)


----------



## editor (Aug 20, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> love this from the brochure:
> 
> View attachment 144583


There was a thread here about it Brixton roller rink

And a feature here: 





Brixton Skating Rink, Effra Road, Brixton, Lambeth, London. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2


----------



## T & P (Aug 20, 2018)

Random question but one thats been bugging me. Does anyone know roughly how old the big tree opposite the Ritzy is?


----------



## editor (Aug 20, 2018)

T & P said:


> Random question but one thats been bugging me. Does anyone know roughly how old the big tree opposite the Ritzy is?


I'm not sure if it helps much, but there's loads of archive pics here: Brixton History: over 120 years of the Brixton Tate Library and Gardens in photos

Is this it?






I think it's a London plane tree in which case this may help age it:  Platanus × acerifolia - Wikipedia


----------



## T & P (Aug 20, 2018)

Thanks. I guess looking at archive images of the square would be a straightforward way to see when it was first planted. I’d also be interested to see how young it was when first planted.

It’s a magnificent tree and looks in rude health and happy as Larry to be there, despite (or perhaps because) the highly polluted local air.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 21, 2018)

discovered this twitter feed today

Loughborough Road SW9 history (@RoadSw9) on Twitter

may be of interest - today's is 1901 plans for the Loughborough Hotel-


----------



## BusLanes (Aug 22, 2018)

Brixton East has been coming up a bit of late with the election- anyone know what has happened with that council feasibility thing? I confess to not following it


----------



## editor (Aug 22, 2018)

15 years ago Brixton 15 years Ago: A lost Banksy, Top Cats at the Fridge, Stockwell skatepark and more, August 2003
















Brixton 15 years Ago: A lost Banksy, Top Cats at the Fridge, Stockwell skatepark and more, August 2003


----------



## killer b (Aug 22, 2018)

I saw the Top Cats at The Fridge that summer, supporting (then providing the backing band for) Laurel Aitken - was it that show? Vanessa Feltz was in the audience. Great gig.


----------



## editor (Aug 22, 2018)

killer b said:


> I saw the Top Cats at The Fridge that summer, supporting (then providing the backing band for) Laurel Aitken - was it that show? Vanessa Feltz was in the audience. Great gig.


I'm not sure. They had a residency there for a while. I do remember seeing the Feltz there one night though.


----------



## killer b (Aug 22, 2018)

She often slips a bit of decent reggae into her early morning show on Radio 2, think she's well into it.


----------



## editor (Aug 22, 2018)

killer b said:


> She often slips a bit of decent reggae into her early morning show on Radio 2, think she's well into it.


You listen to Vanessa Feltz?!


----------



## killer b (Aug 22, 2018)

I do sometimes in the car if I've got an early start. She play some decent tunes and has a bizarre presenting style that I really enjoy.


----------



## CH1 (Aug 22, 2018)

BusLanes said:


> Brixton East has been coming up a bit of late with the election- anyone know what has happened with that council feasibility thing? I confess to not following it


If you mean re-opening East Station Station, it is mentioned in the local plan as an aspiration.

The proviso is that the more railway obsessive people (such as teuchter and Crispy on here) will tell you it can;t be done due to health and safety, short platforms etc.

Not sure what the various parties have to say. The Tory leaflet majors on Mental Health, the Lib Dems on giving estate dwellers a choice about being regenerated.

Labour's tweets are all about being beauteous. Frankly my dear I couldn't give a damn!

I'll try and work or Michael Groce on the off-chance he gets in. 
Lambeth Council starts review to look at business case for reopening East Brixton train station
Call for Brixton link to Overground rail network
Design team sought for East Brixton Station revival

One did try and thrust this into the public eye back in the 2014 election (and maybe contributed to the debate above)

Meanwhile if you are talking of Brixton East, the arts venue this has apparently recently closed down
Brixton East 1871 (@BrixtonEast1871) | Twitter


----------



## Crispy (Aug 22, 2018)

Brixton East station could easily be reopened. The tracks are flat and there's space for platforms. The much more useful proposal for a new station on the high-level line over Brixton station and tube is the one that's "infeasibly" complex and expensive.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 22, 2018)

Crispy said:


> Brixton East station could easily be reopened. The tracks are flat and there's space for platforms. The much more useful proposal for a new station on the high-level line over Brixton station and tube is the one that's "infeasibly" complex and expensive.



That's roughly my understanding of it.

Although I think I'm right in saying that any new East Brixton station would need to be constructed to modern day standards of - among other things - accessibility, which would mean lifts, which would have a construction and maintenance cost attached.  

Standards are quite stringent for new stations (and that's where the issue of curved platforms, or stations on a gradient comes in) compared to standards that are accepted on the basis that a station has been in use since before the new standards came in.


----------



## editor (Aug 22, 2018)

Crispy said:


> Brixton East station could easily be reopened. The tracks are flat and there's space for platforms. The much more useful proposal for a new station on the high-level line over Brixton station and tube is the one that's "infeasibly" complex and expensive.


Still be a tight fit to wedge in the station. The original platforms were very narrow compared to most stations but with enough will, it should definitely be do-able. 
That said, a new, super-handy station would add even more pressure on rental/house prices in the area.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 24, 2018)

new-ish account on tweeter that came to my attention today

South London History (@SouthHistory) on Twitter


----------



## editor (Aug 24, 2018)

Look at these poor buggers

 

Recruiting in the Great War at Lambeth Town Hall for the The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
1916


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 24, 2018)

editor said:


> Look at these poor buggers
> 
> View attachment 144926
> 
> ...


Wonder if that's before conscription introduced in March '16


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 26, 2018)

found on flickr while looking for something else.



RT bus and 1950s built Southern Region train.  Looks like early Saturday morning (combination of buses rules out a Sunday) early 70s


----------



## happyshopper (Aug 28, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> RT bus and 1950s built Southern Region train.  Looks like early Saturday morning (combination of buses rules out a Sunday) early 70s



Taken from the footbridge.


----------



## editor (Aug 28, 2018)

Coming up: Lambeth Local History Fair at the Omnibus Theatre, SW4, Sat Sept 1st


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 28, 2018)

on tweeter today courtesy of LdnMetArchives (@LdnMetArchives) on Twitter

students in action at the LCC School of Building, Brixton (Ferndale Road)


----------



## editor (Aug 30, 2018)

This is a great archive pic. It was on FB with no photographer credit.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Aug 30, 2018)

happyshopper said:


> Taken from the footbridge.


 What foot bridge?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 30, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> What foot bridge?



the one that isn't there any more.

article and pictures here


----------



## friendofdorothy (Aug 30, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> the one that isn't there any more.
> 
> article and pictures here


thanks. It looks hiddeous. It must have gone by the time I first visited Brixton.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 30, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> thanks. It looks hiddeous. It must have gone by the time I first visited Brixton.



thread seems to have concluded it came down about 1980


----------



## Favelado (Aug 30, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> thread seems to have concluded it came down about 1980



1981 riots footage can confirm that as a cut off date I suppose.


----------



## sealion (Aug 30, 2018)

A view from the Tube station side.


----------



## sealion (Aug 30, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> thread seems to have concluded it came down about 1980


lambeth don't seem 100% sure either. Scroll down,Plans and documents relating the the old Brixton High Street footbridge (c. 1975) - a Freedom of Information request to Lambeth Borough Council


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 30, 2018)

sealion said:


> A view from the Tube station side.



It really looks like it was thrown together in a couple of hours...


----------



## Favelado (Aug 30, 2018)

My post was useless and wrong so I deleted it.


----------



## sealion (Aug 30, 2018)

It was gone before the riots in 81.


----------



## Favelado (Aug 30, 2018)

Ah. Well, you've got it narrowed down a bit then. What other Google-able events on Brixton Road are there that can tie it to a particular time?


----------



## sealion (Aug 30, 2018)

Favelado said:


> What other Google-able events on Brixton Road are there that can tie it to a particular time?


Living there at the time helps jog the memory.


----------



## Favelado (Aug 30, 2018)

"Happily, the poster 'haushoch' came to the rescue, unearthing a photo showing a section of the footbridge from 'London Anders Reisen' published in 1980 by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmBH."

With Urban 75's very own post, we know that it must have come down in 1980 or before 11 April 1981 then.

e2a Ah, Only PUBLISHED in 1980. I haven't had a drink, but I'm posting as if I had. I'll retire from the thread.


----------



## editor (Aug 31, 2018)

Favelado said:


> Ah. Well, you've got it narrowed down a bit then. What other Google-able events on Brixton Road are there that can tie it to a particular time?


I wrote about it here : 

The Mystery of the Brixton Road footbridge - urban75 readers track down a forgotten landmark. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2


----------



## teuchter (Aug 31, 2018)

Would be interesting to know when the footbridge was installed, as well as when it was removed. Was it prompted by an increase in motor traffic, or earlier than that and related say to the start of regular tram routes through the town centre.


----------



## sealion (Aug 31, 2018)

It was built in 1971


----------



## Favelado (Aug 31, 2018)

Cool. I wish there were more mysteries and less fighting on U75. This is more how I imagined the internet when it started. What else can we investigate.

In fact, I have one but it's going to have to go in another sub-forum...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 31, 2018)

teuchter said:


> Would be interesting to know when the footbridge was installed, as well as when it was removed. Was it prompted by an increase in motor traffic, or earlier than that and related say to the start of regular tram routes through the town centre.



sealion has come up with the definitive answer on the first bit (I'd found references on the earlier thread to it not having been there in one or two 1960s photos) I'll not add to that.

as to why, it may have gone up at the same time as the pavements and central reservation got barriers to stop pedestrians crossing - very much part of 1960s / 70s thinking on town / highways planning - the "let cars go as fast as possible, get pedestrians out of their way even if it means them having to walk three times as far" approach


----------



## CH1 (Aug 31, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> sealion has come up with the definitive answer on the first bit (I'd found references on the earlier thread to it not having been there in one or two 1960s photos) I'll not add to that.
> 
> as to why, it may have gone up at the same time as the pavements and central reservation got barriers to stop pedestrians crossing - very much part of 1960s / 70s thinking on town / highways planning - the "let cars go as fast as possible, get pedestrians out of their way even if it means them having to walk three times as far" approach


A reminiscence  from a friend who has moved in council and planning circles for years.

He said Brixton tube station was originally conceived as having an underpass under the road so it would have had an entrance on each side of Brixton Road. Things being what they are it was decided that an underpass and two entrances would be too expensive and we got the bridge instead.

Sounds a plausible theory - and the dates fit (the underground station was opened 23rd July 1971).


----------



## BusLanes (Sep 1, 2018)

CH1 said:


> If you mean re-opening East Station Station, it is mentioned in the local plan as an aspiration.
> 
> The proviso is that the more railway obsessive people (such as teuchter and Crispy on here) will tell you it can;t be done due to health and safety, short platforms etc.
> 
> ...



Yah, I have now had a proper read of the last Council feasibility study from 14 (iirc)

Think the main thing is to get the Overground committed to and then try and assess which station option is best

Brixton East didn't seem like it was a terrible option - cheaper but of course with less knowns

https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/ec-lambeth-overground-stations-study-report-2014.pdf


----------



## CH1 (Sep 1, 2018)

BusLanes said:


> Yah, I have now had a proper read of the last Council feasibility study from 14 (iirc)
> 
> Think the main thing is to get the Overground committed to and then try and assess which station option is best
> 
> ...


Thanks. Don't you think this needs revising? All the stats will be different plus a lot more flats etc in the vicinity (more demand).

I'm not sure if I put it up before, but there used to be a Lambeth Public Transport Group (at its most vigorous run by John Stewart now of HACAN.

He did this fabulous report about "Clapham's Hidden Horror" (ie what is now Clapham High Street Overground station. Quite possibly pressure from Lambeth Public Transport group saved Clapham High Street from the same fate as East Brixton.


----------



## BusLanes (Sep 1, 2018)

The Public Transport groups get a lot of mention when one looks into Brixton East or similar topics


----------



## editor (Sep 2, 2018)

This is interesting: the reason why the Victoria Line was extended to Brixton and not Fulham was because it was to tie in with the proposed motorway scheme.


> ...plans to expand the Victoria line to Brixton were approved the following month, at an additional cost of £15 million. The Brixton extension was chosen over a possible link to Fulham thanks to the plans at the time to build a motorway through South London — and the Victoria line would have linked up with car parks to be built in Brixton.



50 years ago - how the Victoria line was built


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 2, 2018)

editor said:


> This is interesting: the reason why the Victoria Line was extended to Brixton and not Fulham was because it was to tie in with the proposed motorway scheme.



hmm

while the plans changed quite a few times, i'm fairly sure the original plan was for the line to run to Croydon via Brixton.  I'm inclined to think that the Fulham idea was an afterthought...


----------



## editor (Sep 2, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> hmm
> 
> while the plans changed quite a few times, i'm fairly sure the original plan was for the line to run to Croydon via Brixton.  I'm inclined to think that the Fulham idea was an afterthought...


Wikipedia says it was definitely a consideration at the beginning:


> A tube railway running from Victoria to Walthamstow was first proposed by a Working Party set up by the British Transport Commission in 1948,[2] though that largely followed a 1946 plan for a Croydon to Finsbury Park line. The main purpose was to relieve congestion in the central area. The necessary Private Bill was introduced into Parliament in 1955. It described a line from Victoria to Walthamstow (Wood Street). There was also a proposal, though not included in the Bill, for a subsequent extension from Victoria to Fulham Broadway station on the District line
> 
> Victoria line - Wikipedia


----------



## friendofdorothy (Sep 3, 2018)

> The Brixton extension was chosen over a possible link to Fulham thanks to the plans at the time to build a motorway through South London — and the Victoria line would have linked up with car parks to be built in Brixton.


 What a shit place Brixton /south London would have been if the motorway and carparks had been realised. Glad that didn't happen - what happened to put a stop to it?


----------



## ricbake (Sep 3, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> What a shit place Brixton /south London would have been if the motorway and carparks had been realised. Glad that didn't happen - what happened to put a stop to it?



Brixton redevelopment plans of the 1970s and the Barrier Block, Southwyck House, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London SW9 with photos, panoramas and general information.
South Cross Route


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## ricbake (Sep 3, 2018)

*Brixton town centre!!!    *


----------



## happyshopper (Sep 3, 2018)

friendofdorothy said:


> What a shit place Brixton /south London would have been if the motorway and carparks had been realised. Glad that didn't happen - what happened to put a stop to it?



Change of policy by the Greater London Labour Party in response to grass-roots pressure.


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## teuchter (Sep 3, 2018)

Puddy_Tat said:


> as to why, it may have gone up at the same time as the pavements and central reservation got barriers to stop pedestrians crossing - very much part of 1960s / 70s thinking on town / highways planning - the "let cars go as fast as possible, get pedestrians out of their way even if it means them having to walk three times as far" approach


Yes, that was my suspicion exactly!


----------



## editor (Sep 4, 2018)




----------



## editor (Sep 7, 2018)

Brixton 15 years ago 







Brixton Sept 2003: a car with no wheels, tube buskers, Clifton Mansions and more


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## editor (Sep 7, 2018)

Some more: 






Brixton history: Electric Avenue market stalls 15 years ago in Sept 2003


----------



## Lee.g (Sep 12, 2018)

Very rare photocard of Loughborough park  facing the corner of somerleyton road
(Where the guiness trust was built in 1930s) the photocard is from 1910


----------



## MrSki (Sep 15, 2018)




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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 26, 2018)

was at 233 Brixton Road (south side of the junction with Mostyn Road) - 1950ish map here

The company is still in business but now only in Margate - street view here


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## editor (Sep 27, 2018)

A bit of history 






Brixton history: Blackfriars tram trundles along Brixton Road


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 27, 2018)

editor said:


> A bit of history
> 
> 
> 
> ...





on the Brixton Buzz page, the colour(ed) photo is probably from a year or so earlier than the black and white one - having the route details sign-written round the end of each tram didn't last long, as it meant each tram was restricted to a particular route.

the three little lumps above the tram destination were lit up at night, with sliding glass 'spectacles' so that each route would show a different combination of coloured lights, so that passengers - and also tram pointsmen - could identify where the tram was going. 

Norbury - Blackfriars was 3 red lights, Norbury - Westminster a single red light, Norbury - Victoria was red-red-green.  This set up got replaced by service numbers in 1913 (it must have been a bit hard - especially in a fog - to tell if a light was 'amber' or a dim 'white' bulb)  Norbury - Embankment via Westminster became service 16 and via Blackfriars service 18 - these numbers stayed until the end of tram operation (they were extended south to Purley in the 1920s when the LCC tram system and Croydon Corporation's tram system were joined up)

Above from E R Oakley's history of the LCC Tramways

Sign on the left would be Treble's Studio.  1904 London County Suburbs Guide (from Leicester University collection) identifies Chas F Treble, photographer at 373 Brixton Road

 

and Wikimedia has his card






(ugh, too many typefaces  )

he appears also to have had a studio at 270 Lavender Hill, Battersea - again from the 1904 directory.

The business went under in 1921, by which time it was being run by a Daniel Prodger (extract from London Gazette, 25.2.21)

 

He had competition across the road from Rupert Leighton, photographer, next door to the London Dental Company who appear to be offering teeth for one guinea (suppose it was better to get some teeth before having your photo taken)

 

(also from the 1904 directory)

1894 map here


----------



## CH1 (Sep 28, 2018)

editor said:


> A bit of history
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Before Bon Marché extension evidently ? 1905 according to this old Urban75 link.


----------



## editor (Oct 9, 2018)

Shame about the text all over it, but this is a great pic of The Crown/Mucky Duck (now a co-op)



The Crown, Mucky Duck public house, Padfield Road, Coldharbour Lane, Loughborough Junction, London SE5. Lost bars of Brixton


----------



## snowy_again (Oct 11, 2018)

There's a Singer Sewing Machines ghost sign exposed on what was the 24 hour offy next to McDonalds...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 20, 2018)

article today on past tense about the 19 October 1990 Brixton anti poll tax demonstration


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 23, 2018)

slightly tenuous, but one of the trams advertises Brixton on its staircase



somewhere around 1905 - 1908 at the West Norwood 'Thurlow Arms' terminus - the route to Vauxhall crossed Brixton Road via Gresham Road and Stockwell Road


----------



## editor (Oct 24, 2018)

This is fantastic 

BBC Sounds - Classified Britain - Series 1 - South London Press, 19 June 1897


----------



## stdP (Oct 27, 2018)

Had a search but didn't see this posted anywhere yet but I just stumbled across an episode of World In Action from 1978 concentrating on the residents of Haycroft Road (west of Briton Water Lane for those who don't know it) and the by-election at the time, published by the BFI;

Watch Black to Front - BFI Player

Leaving aside the ever-present racial tensions (or not, in the case of many of the residents) for the time being, there's some great shots of late 70's Brixton. My memory is rusty but the band performing in the first couple of minutes might be doing so in the Hoboglin/Hootanany and the youth club is in the crypt of St. Matthews church.


----------



## Gramsci (Oct 27, 2018)

stdP said:


> Had a search but didn't see this posted anywhere yet but I just stumbled across an episode of World In Action from 1978 concentrating on the residents of Haycroft Road (west of Briton Water Lane for those who don't know it) and the by-election at the time, published by the BFI;
> 
> Watch Black to Front - BFI Player
> 
> Leaving aside the ever-present racial tensions (or not, in the case of many of the residents) for the time being, there's some great shots of late 70's Brixton. My memory is rusty but the band performing in the first couple of minutes might be doing so in the Hoboglin/Hootanany and the youth club is in the crypt of St. Matthews church.



Thanks for this. Interesting to see Brixton in late 70s. Couple of years before I came. Then it was seen as example of immigration/ race relations as they were termed then. Brixton hadn't been gentrified then.

Given recent deportations of Windrush generation it was particularly annoying to see the Conservative candidate say that the Tories wouldn't be sending people back.

From several comments in the newsreel sounds like Thatcher ( not sure if she was leader of party then) had made recent speech about the country being "swamped".

Been trying to find more about this:



> She spoke of “people of a different culture” who threatened to “swamp” the British character: “And the British character has done so much for democracy, for law, and done so much throughout the world, that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react…”



From Thatcher was catalyst who pushed UK towards their split with Europe



> Her latest biographer, Robin Harris, who was a speech writer for Thatcher for many years, stresses that she was very close in her views to Enoch Powell and advocated that prime minister Ted Heath should not dismiss him for his racist speech which said the Commonwealth immigration policy was “like watching a nation piling up its own funeral pyre”.



The National Front were gaining votes in that period. 

The program at end is rather in hindsight over optimistic. The Youth Worker in the local pub ( the Effra?) speech on how Thatcher had harmed herself with swamp speech.


----------



## newbie (Oct 28, 2018)

stdP said:


> Hoboglin/Hootanany


yes, it even says George Canning on a poster behind the band.

Thanks for that, I was living just round the corner at the time, but didn't have a telly and have never seen it before. It's worth looking at just to see how poor and decrepit the area was back then, conveyed quite well by the boarded up shops, roofs with holes and a beaten up old van used as an election vehicle. 

A couple of weeks after that election was the big Anti Nazi League carnival in Brockwell Park.


----------



## Gramsci (Oct 28, 2018)

stdP  very helpful link got me looking at what else is on the free BFI website.

Found this from same period. Not directly about Brixton but captures the spirit of the times in inner cities across England.

Also shows how punk and reggae were linked to politics.

Watch Divide and Rule - Never! - BFI Player


----------



## Gramsci (Oct 28, 2018)

Gramsci said:


> Thanks for this. Interesting to see Brixton in late 70s. Couple of years before I came. Then it was seen as example of immigration/ race relations as they were termed then. Brixton hadn't been gentrified then.
> 
> Given recent deportations of Windrush generation it was particularly annoying to see the Conservative candidate say that the Tories wouldn't be sending people back.
> 
> ...



I showed the this to my partner who is from another EU country. She knew about Thatcher. I checked and Thatcher had replaced Heath when she made the swamp speech. She won the election year after this news piece was made.

The parallels with today are surprising. UKIP followed up on Thatcher. Instead of Afro Carribbean being the target it is people from other EU countries.

This country has never got over losing an empire imo.


----------



## stdP (Oct 28, 2018)

Thanks for all your input chaps - as someone who moved to Brixton less than 20yrs ago I found it a thoroughly interesting watch but of course my views were nothing to do with contemporaneousness.



Gramsci said:


> Thanks for this. Interesting to see Brixton in late 70s. Couple of years before I came. Then it was seen as example of immigration/ race relations as they were termed then. Brixton hadn't been gentrified then.
> 
> Given recent deportations of Windrush generation it was particularly annoying to see the Conservative candidate say that the Tories wouldn't be sending people back.
> 
> ...



I'm not sure the tories of the late 70's are comparable to the knee-jerking xenophobes that populate some of its ranks today - but that's before my time. I'd be interested to hear the view of some brixtonians in that regard if they feel the tory (and other right-wing groups) diatribe has veered against non-brits in general, or specifically against non-whites. As I see it, the tories are merely just trying to find and spotlight as many scapegoats as possible whilst they do their best to fuck up the futures of everyone (divide and conquer, ad nauseum, ad infinitum), but that's just my horrendously biased opinion.



Gramsci said:


> The program at end is rather in hindsight over optimistic. The Youth Worker in the local pub ( the Effra?) speech on how Thatcher had harmed herself with swamp speech.



Yup this was what I was mostly doubtful of - the overall message of the film I thought was lovely and totally right-on for a liberal like myself but, given the still-present tensions, the riots and all the rest of it I did wonder if the environment as a whole was anywhere near as idyllic as the program made it seem at times.



Gramsci said:


> very helpful link got me looking at what else is on the free BFI website



It's fair to say I've been working my way through the A-Z of the archive for most of the weekend. An absolute treasure trove in every way, shape and form. There's an absolute shedload of stuff from all around south london that I'm still working my way through.



Gramsci said:


> I showed the this to my partner who is from another EU country. She knew about Thatcher. I checked and Thatcher had replaced Heath when she made the swamp speech. She won the election year after this news piece was made.
> 
> The parallels with today are surprising. UKIP followed up on Thatcher. Instead of Afro Carribbean being the target it is people from other EU countries.



Yeah, aside from the historical footage what made me want to post it was how so many of the arguments seemed ripped from the headlines from the past few years. Same shit, different day I guess - the target and the language changes but the overall arguments and sentiments remain much the same. To my mind the perennial trigger always seems to be economic inequality in times of strife, but that's a discussion for another thread 



Gramsci said:


> This country has never got over losing an empire imo.



I'm not sure any country ever gets over losing an empire, not entirely. My partner is italian and the former glories of the roman empire (and even the ill-fated fascist era, itself a deliberate reincarnation of rome) still looms large in their collective national consciousness as far as I can tell. America are in the midst of losing theirs and the results aren't going to be pretty.



newbie said:


> yes, it even says George Canning on a poster behind the band.
> 
> Thanks for that, I was living just round the corner at the time, but didn't have a telly and have never seen it before. It's worth looking at just to see how poor and decrepit the area was back then, conveyed quite well by the boarded up shops, roofs with holes and a beaten up old van used as an election vehicle.



I seem to remember beaten-up old vehicles being _de rigeur]/i] for election vehicles back in the day, but I didn't grow up here so I could be wrong. The general shabbiness of the area from some bits of the film didn't really stick out for me, it just reminded me of how I remembered it looking much like it did in the late 90's._


----------



## editor (Oct 29, 2018)

Cracking Brixton Market shot from 1970 seen on eBay (I think the photo is by 'Alan Band')


----------



## editor (Oct 30, 2018)

Posted on FB (no photographer credit) 

 

 Desmond's hip city record shop Railton Road Brixton, around 1972.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 30, 2018)

editor said:


> Posted on FB (no photographer credit)
> 
> View attachment 151240
> 
> Desmond's hip city record shop Railton Road Brixton, around 1972.



1974 would fit 20 April being a Saturday, and Nicky Thomas touring the UK


----------



## Gramsci (Oct 30, 2018)

stdP said:


> I'm not sure the tories of the late 70's are comparable to the knee-jerking xenophobes that populate some of its ranks today - but that's before my time. I'd be interested to hear the view of some brixtonians in that regard if they feel the tory (and other right-wing groups) diatribe has veered against non-brits in general, or specifically against non-whites. As I see it, the tories are merely just trying to find and spotlight as many scapegoats as possible whilst they do their best to fuck up the futures of everyone (divide and conquer, ad nauseum, ad infinitum), but that's just my horrendously biased opinion.
> 
> 
> Yup this was what I was mostly doubtful of - the overall message of the film I thought was lovely and totally right-on for a liberal like myself but, given the still-present tensions, the riots and all the rest of it I did wonder if the environment as a whole was anywhere near as idyllic as the program made it seem at times._._



As a second generation Afro Carribbean friend said to me East Europeans are being talked about the same way his parents were when they came here as part of Windrush generation. 

Back in seventies it was Asians / Afro Carribbean coming here "taking our jobs". 

I didn't think the program presented an idyllic picture. Take the interview with the Northern Irish couple on the street. Where he started going on about "voluntary" repatriation. The woman complaining about her Jamaican landlord. Saying she was not racist but she could understand why some people might "resent".

Thatcher is comparable to what u call xenophobic Tories now. Her language using term like being swamped is if anything more upfront. There is link between her anti immigrant rhetoric and say Mays "hostile environment". What happens now is more insidious. Anti immigrant policies are dressed up as bureaucratic enforcing of the law. 

Thatcher was a populist leader. She said what she thought. You either supported her or hated her.


----------



## Gramsci (Oct 30, 2018)

stdP said:


> Yeah, aside from the historical footage what made me want to post it was how so many of the arguments seemed ripped from the headlines from the past few years. Same shit, different day I guess - the target and the language changes but the overall arguments and sentiments remain much the same. To my mind the perennial trigger always seems to be economic inequality in times of strife, but that's a discussion for another thread
> 
> 
> I'm not sure any country ever gets over losing an empire, not entirely. My partner is italian and the former glories of the roman empire (and even the ill-fated fascist era, itself a deliberate reincarnation of rome) still looms large in their collective national consciousness as far as I can tell. America are in the midst of losing theirs and the results aren't going to be pretty.
> ...



I think history should trigger off discussions. Otherwise its a rather pointless exercise of just looking at quaint pictures of the past.

Your two examples from Italy and US show how important looking at post Imperial history is. It confirms my assertion that this country still hasn't got over losing an Empire. I assume we can agree British Empire was exploiting other peoples and there land.

In my post about Thatcher's Swamp speech she put forward her views on who is British. And it wasnt people from ex colonies.

The newsreel was made at the time the second generation were starting to come of age. ( Those born here of migrant parents). This imo was really frightening the kind of middle England / sections of white working class. They were British but not accepted as such. The second newsreel I posted up describes this better. Personally I think this country had come a long way then UKIP happened. I now think this country is going backwards.


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## editor (Oct 30, 2018)

Where Kaff used to be:


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## friendofdorothy (Nov 4, 2018)

Gramsci said:


> I think history should trigger off discussions. Otherwise its a rather pointless exercise of just looking at quaint pictures of the past.


 Yes, I think we always need to be on our guard against the intolerant, racist right. I'm not sure they ever disappear entirely and we must be aware of what they are up to. I found the mainstream acceptance of ukip over the past few years profoundly depressing, as bad or worse than Thatcher. 

We have got to know our history to learn from it.


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## editor (Nov 5, 2018)

Market footage.


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## editor (Nov 7, 2018)

Tate's statue was a bit grander back in 1979


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## CH1 (Nov 7, 2018)

editor said:


> Tate's statue was a bit grander back in 1979
> View attachment 151958


Thanks for that - I keep telling people there were 4 bronze lions round the base - and nobody can remember them.

The lions seem to have been early victims of the craze for stealing public sculpture. I'm sure I read in the South London Press (maybe around 1985) that two of the lions had turned up. One in railway sidings at Willsden Junction.

I don't think anybody in the council or the police considered it a matter of urgency (do they ever) so we never got them reinstated.


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## editor (Nov 14, 2018)

Brixton 15 years ago 







Pope's Rd market before Sports Direct killed it off. 






A busy Granville Arcade. 






Godsquad. 






Albert.

More here - Brixton 15 Years Ago: Busy street markets, Granville Arcade, pubs and free fireworks, Nov 2003


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## editor (Nov 16, 2018)

Brixton a decade ago 


























Brixton 10 Years Ago: Mexican wrestling go-go dancers, bands and free fireworks, Nov 2008


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## Casaubon (Nov 16, 2018)

editor said:


> Brixton a decade ago
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I saw the Lani Singers at Offline. They were great, but I must say they left me feeling more than a little melancholy.

Their story of West Papua, and exile in the UK with only a handful of compatriots for support, was really moving.

Free West Papua

Dulwich Ukulele Club were always really entertaining. Does anyone know if they’re still playing, at all?  Has anyone got a copy of their ‘London Stone’ album they can copy for me? I can’t find a copy to buy anywhere. I'll swap for a copy of the Past Caring album.


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## editor (Nov 16, 2018)

Casaubon said:


> I saw the Lani Singers at Offline. They were great, but I must say they left me feeling more than a little melancholy.


The band I had booked to headline after the Lani Singers told me "we can't follow that" and promptly left that night!


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## editor (Nov 22, 2018)

Wow! This is the booking office of the Empress Theatre.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 27, 2018)

on Flickr today, Brixton Hill tram depot and Pride and Clarke car lot, 1936


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 27, 2018)

and also this



fairly firmly think this must be heading up brixton hill, somewhere between mid 1946 and mid 1951 - no immediate idea what the crowd and the copper is in aid of, doesn't look like a demonstration.  the london to brighton car run started again after the war in 1947 so is a possible


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## editor (Dec 7, 2018)

Just look at those LOVELY semaphores!

 

*swoon


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## RoyReed (Dec 8, 2018)

I've done a reconstruction of what the 'Our Sons' ghostsign on Electric Lane might have looked like in both of its earlier iterations.



 

 

This is follow on from some work that I've been doing in collaboration with Sam Roberts of Ghostsigns which was used for a walk as part of the Lambeth festival earlier this year. He's going to be publishing a free app of the walk sometime in the new year (to go with his Stoke Newington and London Bridge walks). You can see some more of the reconstructions on my website.


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## editor (Dec 8, 2018)

RoyReed said:


> I've done a reconstruction of what the 'Our Sons' ghostsign on Electric Lane might have looked like in both of its earlier iterations.
> 
> View attachment 154951
> 
> ...


Love it!


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## cuppa tee (Dec 10, 2018)

Someone posted this pic of a gent called Bill Boaks on fb tonight....he was an eccentric political activist, with _complicated_ views, mostly in the realm of public safety, he was aligned with the monster raving looney party. and was a thorn in the side of Lambeth council, here he is pictured with his armoured bike which he rode around the manor to raise awareness of road safety.......

Bill Boaks - Wikipedia


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## trabuquera (Dec 11, 2018)

That bike's an accident waiting to happen for a start. How did he ever manage to see out of/around it?


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## alex_ (Dec 11, 2018)

trabuquera said:


> That bike's an accident waiting to happen for a start. How did he ever manage to see out of/around it?



Whilst campaigning for road safety ?

Bloody cyclists !

Alex


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## happyshopper (Dec 20, 2018)

My favourite ghostsign is in Coldharbour Lane for the long gone and moderately missed “Tony’s New Continental Store”. There was a time, pre-gentrification, that this one of the few places in Brixton that you could get ‘exotic’ stuff like olives.


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## Metroman (Dec 21, 2018)

omg I remember this place!! My mum used to shop here way back in the 70s!


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## happyshopper (Dec 31, 2018)

Looking through an old album I found I had taken a photograph with a lost ghostsign for the "Brixton Pavilion". It was in Coldharbour Lane, where the Satay Bar is now.

I think it must have taken the picture in 1987.


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## editor (Dec 31, 2018)

happyshopper said:


> Looking through an old album I found I had taken a photograph with a lost ghostsign for the "Brixton Pavilion". It was in Coldharbour Lane, where the Satay Bar is now.
> 
> I think it must have taken the picture in 1987.
> 
> View attachment 157362


That's a cracking pic! Could I use it on Buzz?


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## happyshopper (Dec 31, 2018)

editor said:


> That's a cracking pic! Could I use it on Buzz?


That would be good.


----------



## editor (Jan 4, 2019)

Atlantic Road 








Brixton history: Atlantic Road looking towards Coldharbour Lane around 1905


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## cuppa tee (Jan 4, 2019)

The other Brady's


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## editor (Jan 4, 2019)

cuppa tee said:


> The other Brady's
> 
> View attachment 157765


I wrote about that boozer here - Russell Hotel, 189, Brixton Road and Caldwell Street, Brixton, Lambeth, London SW9

It's now a supermarket/flats.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 4, 2019)

editor said:


> Atlantic Road
> 
> 
> 
> ...





1894 OS map here (National Library of Scotland collection)

And 1904 Kellys' London Suburbs directory (from Leicester University collection)

 

The Atlantic Tavern is postally on Coldharbour Lane so not mentioned here.  

The sign 'Cannon' probably refers to the Cannon brewery in Clerkenwell


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 5, 2019)

on flickr today



presume identified as 1937 from the films showing at the Palladium (now the Fridge)


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## friendofdorothy (Jan 6, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today
> 
> 
> 
> presume identified as 1937 from the films showing at the Palladium (now the Fridge)



I'm trying to work out where on Brixton Hill that is. I think it says 175 - is the building still there?


----------



## teuchter (Jan 6, 2019)

friendofdorothy said:


> I'm trying to work out where on Brixton Hill that is. I think it says 175 - is the building still there?



I can't work out either ... maybe one of the many bits along rush common that now have inter or post war buildings on.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 6, 2019)

friendofdorothy said:


> I'm trying to work out where on Brixton Hill that is. I think it says 175 - is the building still there?





teuchter said:


> I can't work out either ... maybe one of the many bits along rush common that now have inter or post war buildings on.



Yes - viewing it on Flickr, I make it 175 Brixton Hill.

Going by the 1951 OS Map, it wasn't there by 1950 (and the first bit of what's now Deepdene Gardens was in place), but 175 would have been on the east side of Brixton Hill, between the junctions of Upper Tulse Hill and New Park Road (the 1895 map did not show house numbers).  The LCC bomb damage maps show 'minor damage' to houses around there.


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## editor (Jan 6, 2019)

happyshopper said:


> That would be good.


I hope I did it justice!

Brixton history: Coldharbour Lane in 1987, ghost sign, cafe, taxi and prize bingo where the Satay Bar now stands


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## happyshopper (Jan 7, 2019)

Brixton history: Coldharbour Lane in 1987, ghost sign, cafe, taxi and prize bingo where the Satay Bar now stands[/QUOTE]

Great. I'll see if I can find any more.


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## billythefish (Jan 7, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Yes - viewing it on Flickr, I make it 175 Brixton Hill.
> 
> Going by the 1951 OS Map, it wasn't there by 1950 (and the first bit of what's now Deepdene Gardens was in place), but 175 would have been on the east side of Brixton Hill, between the junctions of Upper Tulse Hill and New Park Road (the 1895 map did not show house numbers).  The LCC bomb damage maps show 'minor damage' to houses around there.


There's another picture taken around the same time from the roof of Dumbarton Court and looking South-East. It shows these car sales businesses in the context of the hill and the area now occupied by Deepdene Gardens and Redlands Way. There were still some grand houses in situ in 1937, and I wonder whether these pictures were taken in anticipation of their demolition.


----------



## editor (Jan 7, 2019)

happyshopper said:


> Brixton history: Coldharbour Lane in 1987, ghost sign, cafe, taxi and prize bingo where the Satay Bar now stands



Great. I'll see if I can find any more.[/QUOTE]
Keep 'em coming!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 16, 2019)

found on flickr today while looking for something else



Brixton Road 'Olde White Horse' (now the Brixton Jamm) - street view

somewhere between 1907 (tram built then) and 1913 (tram not carrying a service number)


----------



## editor (Jan 16, 2019)

I posted this on Buzz earlier 






Brixton history: Steam engine thunders through Brixton station with the ‘Thanet Belle,’ August 1949


----------



## editor (Jan 17, 2019)

15 years ago
















Brixton 15 Years Ago: Speedy Noodles, snow, markets and street scenes, January 2004


----------



## editor (Jan 18, 2019)

Great postcard this


----------



## jakejb79 (Jan 18, 2019)

Brixton Market


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 18, 2019)

past tense has an article today about the January 1988 Lambeth council workers' strike (in the general context of tory cuts)


----------



## Gramsci (Jan 21, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> past tense has an article today about the January 1988 Lambeth council workers' strike (in the general context of tory cuts)



An interesting read from a Council workers perspective. What comes across is that Council at that time were still big employers. Outsourcing hadn't happened yet.

This all rather passed me by as one of the "layabout" short life people. In hindsight this was the best period for Short life people in central Brixton. Ted Knight had gone. If he had succeeded in toppling Thatcher people like me would have been for the chop straight away.

Whilst government / Labour Councils/ Council workers all fought each other housing in central Brixton was basically run by Short Lifers. The heyday of Short Life. Central Brixton was a Council free zone.

A word for the DHSS staff. Yes as in the article they were really good. Unlike now never gave the Doleys a hard time. You could miss signing on and come next day no problem.

And never knew the Speaker of the house of Commons Bercow was a Conservative Lambeth Councillor during this period. Saying strikers should be sacked.


----------



## hipipol (Jan 28, 2019)




----------



## hipipol (Jan 28, 2019)

Earlier market vibes, with properly condescending commentary, but great images


----------



## editor (Jan 29, 2019)

1950s Brixton. Anyone recognise anyone?


----------



## CH1 (Jan 30, 2019)

editor said:


> 1950s Brixton. Anyone recognise anyone?
> View attachment 160298


This appears to be a spoof. Which is unfortunate given the historical provenance of most posting here.
Angell Ward was around in 1918 and continued until 2000 see here Angell Ward, Lambeth, 1918 |  | Ideal Homes
NB at that time the land where barrier block & Moorlands Estate are was in Herne Hill, and the bit of Herne Hill including Kings College Hospital and the Thorland Estate was in Angell Ward.

I think your photo is a photoshop joke with a fake legend on the banner. Don't know who the people are. Presumably Scarlet O'Hara can help?


----------



## happyshopper (Jan 30, 2019)

CH1 said:


> I think your photo is a photoshop joke with a fake legend on the banner. Don't know who the people are. Presumably Scarlet O'Hara can help?



You seem to be assuming that it's referring to a Lambeth Council electoral ward. But that makes little sense. Most likely it's a hospital ward and without more information about it's source, it could be anywhere.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 30, 2019)

happyshopper said:


> You seem to be assuming that it's referring to a Lambeth Council electoral ward. But that makes little sense. Most likely it's a hospital ward and without more information about it's source, it could be anywhere.


If it was a hospital ward you are right. There are lots of Coldharbours around. 
As an unrelated bit of serendipity look at this statement by Secretary of State Sir Keith Joseph about the fire at Coldharbour Mental Hospital in 1972 which resulted in the death of 30 patients COLDHARBOUR HOSPITAL, SHERBORNE (FIRE) (Hansard, 5 July 1972)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 30, 2019)

editor said:


> 1950s Brixton. Anyone recognise anyone?





CH1 said:


> I think your photo is a photoshop joke with a fake legend on the banner. Don't know who the people are. Presumably Scarlet O'Hara can help?





happyshopper said:


> You seem to be assuming that it's referring to a Lambeth Council electoral ward. But that makes little sense. Most likely it's a hospital ward and without more information about it's source, it could be anywhere.



inclined to agree with happyshopper - If it is a faked 1950s scene done recently, then it's been done VERY well in terms of the clothes, hair, cars in the background, tat under the table, and if the 'coldharbour ward' bit was faked, the effect where 'cold' is less clear than 'harbour' probably wouldn't have happened.

editor - do you have any more info on it?  On a short bit of googling, I can't trace a 'coldharbour ward' in a hospital, but there are (current) electoral coldharbour wards in Aylesbury, Gravesend and Guildford-ish.


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## lang rabbie (Feb 6, 2019)

I can confirm this. There are a few people in the Brixton Society who have never forgiven me for the loss of Angell as as an historic ward name when I co-wrote the Liberal Democrat proposals for re-warding of the borough in the mid 1990s . Much to my amazement, these were adopted pretty much unchanged by the then Local Government Commission for England, apart from a few tweaks that ensured all the streets south of Barnwell Road joined Poet's Corner in Herne Hill.  



CH1 said:


> Angell Ward was around in 1918 and continued until 2000 see here Angell Ward, Lambeth, 1918 |  | Ideal Homes
> NB at that time the land where barrier block & Moorlands Estate are was in Herne Hill, and the bit of Herne Hill including Kings College Hospital and the Thorland Estate was in Angell Ward.


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## lang rabbie (Feb 6, 2019)

Coldharbour is also the name of a ward of Capel Parish Council in Surrey that contains Leith Hill, the highest point in Southern England


----------



## nick (Feb 7, 2019)

"Hill of Trees" innit


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## editor (Feb 7, 2019)

Next week; Find out about the history of Loughborough Road, SW9 – free history talk, Fri 15th Feb 2019


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 8, 2019)

couple of pictures of the 1909 electric trains introduced on the Victoria - Denmark Hill - London Bridge route on teh tweeter today courtesy of 'turniprail'












looks a bit cosier (although this was the first class) than southern's 'ironing board' seats...


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## editor (Feb 15, 2019)

Varsity sausages anyone?


----------



## cuppa tee (Feb 15, 2019)

One of the Brixton Facebook groups had a thread devoted to a den of iniquity called Club Leslie
apparently it was close by the Canterbury Arms and was owned by William Hartnell aka Doctor Who No1
In the 1950s it was a top celebrity gaff but lapsed into a sleazy knocking shop as time passed.
Can't find anything online but wondering anyone here has more info.....


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 15, 2019)

cuppa tee said:


> One of the Brixton Facebook groups had a thread devoted to a den of iniquity called Club Leslie
> apparently it was close by the Canterbury Arms and was owned by William Hartnell aka Doctor Who No1
> In the 1950s it was a top celebrity gaff but lapsed into a sleazy knocking shop as time passed.
> Can't find anything online but wondering anyone here has more info.....



not heard of it, but it has a mention at clubs – Black London Histories

couple of mentions in the London Gazette (appears to be a long drawn out insolvency / bankruptcy - proceedings started in 1959, below is from 6.2.62, and there's another one in 1965) for Gustav(i)us Leslie, described as proprietor of the club, giving an address of 10 Canterbury Crescent.

 
The Sunset Club on Carnaby Street has a few mentions on the web, including this on Ben Sherman website, as they are now based at that address.

Can't find any reference to William Hartnell having any involvement.

may be worth a tweet in the direction of HistoryisMadeatNight (@Historyatnight) on Twitter who is S London based.


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## cuppa tee (Feb 15, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> not heard of it, but it has a mention at clubs – Black London Histories
> 
> couple of mentions in the London Gazette (appears to be a long drawn out insolvency / bankruptcy - proceedings started in 1959, below is from 6.2.62, and there's another one in 1965) for Gustav(i)us Leslie, described as proprietor of the club, giving an address of 10 Canterbury Crescent.
> 
> ...


Wow, thanks very much for that 

Edit....Seems the club was known as Hartnells when Doctor Who ran it and Benny Hill used to frequent it which makes sense reading this....Empress Theatre, Brighton Terrace and Bernay's Grove, Carlton Grove, Brixton. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2


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## Twattor (Feb 16, 2019)

cuppa tee said:


> One of the Brixton Facebook groups had a thread devoted to a den of iniquity called Club Leslie
> apparently it was close by the Canterbury Arms and was owned by William Hartnell aka Doctor Who No1
> In the 1950s it was a top celebrity gaff but lapsed into a sleazy knocking shop as time passed.
> Can't find anything online but wondering anyone here has more info.....


brixtonblade is this one of yours?


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## brixtonblade (Feb 16, 2019)

Twattor said:


> brixtonblade is this one of yours?


Afraid not, bit before my time!


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## lordnoise (Feb 18, 2019)

cuppa tee said:


> The other Brady's
> 
> View attachment 157765



Great pub with huge amounts of wonderful curvey wood panelling probably put in during a refit in the 30s. 
Tesco Metro now ...


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## Simon Hannah (Feb 22, 2019)

Hi all, I have some posts on my radical Lambeth history website about Red Clerk, a left wing magazing run by DHSS staff out of Oval Job Centre in the late 1980s

Radical Lambeth


----------



## Simon Hannah (Feb 22, 2019)

Some Lambeth NALGO posters against the Poll Tax


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## Simon Hannah (Feb 22, 2019)

Some more Lambeth against the Poll Tax leaflets and photos


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## CH1 (Feb 22, 2019)

Simon Hannah quite liked this from the Facebook page, which is the same as your website I guess. How is it sepia? The photo must be recent - since the original cinema entrance was turned into a bar (by the capitalists!)


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 4, 2019)

on flickr today


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 5, 2019)

and today - seems to have been taken from the balcony thing at the town hall



yes, the Green Line coach is heading to Aylesbury - like most Green Line routes of the time, it was cross London, and would have started its journey at Oxted.


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## editor (Mar 13, 2019)

Brixton history: Edwardian postcard of the railway bridges on Brixton Road


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## editor (Mar 13, 2019)

In photos: the long-lost Brixton Junction signal box above Marks & Spencer, Brixton Road


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 13, 2019)

Herne Hill, 1958, on Flickr today


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 17, 2019)

on tweeter today from robnitm






76 Brixton Hill (now sainsburys local) 1975

(edited to add date)


----------



## Smick (Mar 17, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today from robnitm
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The Austin Princess was launched as the 18-22 in 1975 and didn't see the year out with that name, changing to Princess in 1975 also. So, unless they left their signs up longer than they should have, which I doubt a sales showroom would do, the photo is from '75. I thought the gold Allegro has a W reg plate, which would make it later than '75, but I think it's an M.


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## Smick (Mar 17, 2019)

Or I could have just clicked the bloody link, which I did after writing that up and looking up numberplate details, and seen that the tweet says 1975.


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## editor (Mar 20, 2019)

I love Mostyn House on Mosytn Road. Anyone know any more about this grand house?


----------



## Pickman's model (Mar 20, 2019)

thanet advertiser 16/5/1868


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## Pickman's model (Mar 20, 2019)

leamington spa courier 20/4/1951


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## Pickman's model (Mar 20, 2019)

https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/pl-Brixton-Rd-Character-Statement-03.pdf


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## Pickman's model (Mar 20, 2019)

editor said:


> I love Mostyn House on Mosytn Road. Anyone know any more about this grand house?
> 
> View attachment 165058


there seems to have been another mostyn house on knatchbull road 

'MOSTYN HOUSE' HANDBILL, KNATCHBULL ROAD, BRIXTON NORTH - Landmark


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 20, 2019)

i found the mostyn house handbill.  may be completely unrelated, or they could have started out at the brixton mostyn house and kept the name when they moved.

London Gazette of 14 July 1876 has it as one of the residences of David Mitchell Aird, barrister at law (deceased)


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 20, 2019)

David Mitchell Aird seems to have moonlighted as a writer / translator - combination of law / travel / grammar and possibly a couple of romances.  

His son, David Alfred Aird qualified as a barrister in 1874.  

He also appears to have been in business as a printer (possibly catering for the legal profession) in partnership with Eliza Aird (described as 'widow' so possibly wife of David Mitchell Aird?) but this went bust in 1887.  This suggests they had not kept Mostyn House on.

 



(followed this out of curiosity - one of my great grandmothers was an Aird, although understand it's akin to 'Hill' in England, so probably plenty of them around)


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 20, 2019)

by 1914 (London Suburbs Directory), 7 Mostyn Road (or part of same) was 'Mostyn Chambers' - with solicitor Alfred Armstrong in business

(The 1904 equivalent lists Mr Putnam as householder, and Mr Armstrong, solicitor at 7A)

Mr Armstrong was still in business in 1943 - found a couple of public notices in the London Gazette



Oval History has reference to an Alfred Armstrong, Solicitor, in St Ann's Road (now Southey Road) in 1881 - this was probably home not business address, as I can find references around that time for Alfred Armstrong, solicitor at 115 Chancery Lane.

since this chap would have been getting on for 100 by 1943, I can't imagine he was still soliciting.  Could be that the Mostyn Road solicitor was the son who was 6 years old in 1881 and followed father's footsteps in profession as well as first name.


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 21, 2019)

editor said:


> I love Mostyn House on Mosytn Road. Anyone know any more about this grand house?



visible on 1876 OS map (at Old Maps) - couldn't get anything on Old Maps yesterday

British History Online has a bit more here and a picture of the original Mostyn Road Methodist Church, built 1868 - would seem reasonable to assume that the houses along the north side were built around the same time.


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## editor (Mar 22, 2019)

Some recent Brixton history 






















Brixton 15 years ago: Skate Park, a lost Banksy, market scenes, helicopter and the Fridge Bar, March 2004


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 22, 2019)

today's from flickr



Brixton Hill facing south with some classic road sign

Former tram shed (now back in use for buses) up for sale - London Transport hung on to it for a few years after trams ended but the building that's now Arriva London's garage on Streatham Hill (built on the site of tram depot that had in part originally been built for cable trams) was big enough for the buses that replaced the trams that had previously lived at both sites.


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## cuppa tee (Mar 22, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> today's from flickr
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Must be the fifties...that vans got a Tony Curtis haircut.....


----------



## editor (Mar 25, 2019)

I like this: 

 

Brixton Roller Skating Rink – memories from the late 1950s


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## editor (Mar 28, 2019)

This came up in ebay just labelled 'Brixton'. Any idea where? I thought it may be one of the shops that got flattened to make way for the Barrier Block/Moorlands Est but I'm not sure at all. There's a tram stop in the middle of the road so that narrows it down a bit.


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## madolesance (Mar 28, 2019)

Possibly the same folks- CLARE & SONS, UNDERTAKERS, 214-216 BRIXTON HILL - Landmark


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## editor (Mar 28, 2019)

madolesance said:


> Possibly the same folks- CLARE & SONS, UNDERTAKERS, 214-216 BRIXTON HILL - Landmark


I saw that but I don't think it's the same business - this lot do 'bargains for furniture'!


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## madolesance (Mar 28, 2019)

editor said:


> I saw that but I don't think it's the same business - this lot do 'bargains for furniture'!


Undertakers and Upholsterers. Slight change in their business model. Furniture still features.


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## editor (Mar 28, 2019)

madolesance said:


> Undertakers and Upholsterers. Slight change in their business model. Furniture still features.


Like a Poundload for death and furniture! They've got all you need!


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## editor (Mar 28, 2019)

Boy oh boy has the Albert changed
















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Live gigs at the Prince Albert & Windmill and Rushcroft Road eviction, March 2009


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 28, 2019)

editor said:


> This came up in ebay just labelled 'Brixton'. Any idea where? I thought it may be one of the shops that got flattened to make way for the Barrier Block/Moorlands Est but I'm not sure at all. There's a tram stop in the middle of the road so that narrows it down a bit.
> 
> View attachment 165852



1919 London County Suburbs directory lists Clare & Sons, furniture removers, at 262, 266 - 270 Brixton Hill.  Furniture selling seems a more likely sideline for a removals firm than for an undertaker...

These addresses are now part of New Park Court, which I can find references to in 1935

1895 OS map doesn't show property numbers, but has a few properties at an angle to the road with a bit of open yard in front of them, about opposite where the junction of Holmewood Road is now.

1951 OS map has New Park Court where it is now, but has the mini roundabout sort of thing at the junction of Holmewood Road

Current Street View


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 28, 2019)

on the Flickr today



Detail of the tram puts this somewhere between 1907 - 1913

west side buildings broadly unchanged, with successors Nat West (on Street View at least) still occupying the London County Westminster and Parrs bank building on the corner of Brighton Terrace.  The Savoy Turkish Baths (sign to the right) more or less where the Underground Station is now.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 13, 2019)

on teh tweeter today


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 13, 2019)

and


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## CH1 (Apr 13, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on the Flickr today
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Any idea about the sign which apparently advertises pianos available? Was that a musical instrument shop? (opp side of Brighton Terrace to the bank)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 14, 2019)

CH1 said:


> Any idea about the sign which apparently advertises pianos available? Was that a musical instrument shop? (opp side of Brighton Terrace to the bank)





from the 1911 London Suburbs directory.

In answer to your question, yes.  

Craven and Company seem to have had a few places in the South London suburbs at the time (reference here) - these look mostly like shops rather than where they actually made pianos.


----------



## CH1 (Apr 14, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> View attachment 167614
> 
> from the 1911 London Suburbs directory.
> 
> ...


The was a piano manufacturer in Clapham Park Road - but this was Welmar Welmar Pianos of London
The factory has now been turned into a "mews"


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 14, 2019)

CH1 said:


> The was a piano manufacturer in Clapham Park Road - but this was Welmar Welmar Pianos of London



on a bit of fairly hurried searching, i can't trace craven & co's factory.  of course some companies described themselves as 'London' meaning the head office was London, but the works was out of town somewhere


----------



## madolesance (Apr 14, 2019)

And there is ‘Piano House’ on Brighton Terrace.


----------



## RoyReed (Apr 14, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on a bit of fairly hurried searching, i can't trace craven & co's factory.  of course some companies described themselves as 'London' meaning the head office was London, but the works was out of town somewhere


Craven and Co had several shops (I think, not factories) around south London - list here about 4/5 of the way down the page.


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## CH1 (Apr 14, 2019)

madolesance said:


> And there is ‘Piano House’ on Brighton Terrace.


Maybe the  name Piano House is inspired by Craven's shop?
I guess it might take  a review of Kellys etc in the archives to find out what went on in there.
In any case the Piano House/Pavilion Surgery building can't be much earlier than 1900.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 14, 2019)

CH1 said:


> Maybe the name Piano House is inspired by Craven's shop?



dunno.  Piano House was Bon Marche's 'furniture depository' (1911 London Suburban Directory) and still has a Bon Marche Depository ghost sign (street view here)



CH1 said:


> In any case the Piano House/Pavilion Surgery building can't be much earlier than 1900.



1894 map does not show it, or the Empress Theatre across the road - 1950 map of same point does


----------



## editor (Apr 14, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> dunno.  Piano House was Bon Marche's 'furniture depository' (1911 London Suburban Directory) and still has a Bon Marche Depository ghost sign (street view here)
> 
> 
> 
> 1894 map does not show it, or the Empress Theatre across the road - 1950 map of same point does


The Empress opened on Boxing day 1898...


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## editor (Apr 20, 2019)

> The then future King Edward VII opening Stockwell Station, the southern terminus of the City & South London Railway, in 1890.


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## editor (Apr 26, 2019)

Some more Brixton history 







Brixton history – Claribel Road (formerly Holland Road North), London, SW9


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 29, 2019)

on teh tweeter today from robnitm

January 1981


----------



## CH1 (Apr 29, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on teh tweeter today from robnitm
> January 1981


I'd query the date on that. Lambeth Building Society & Truform (ie Beehive) are right. But Lloyds Bank does not look right.
The Black Horse is there on Truform's wall, but the bank sign doesn't looks like Lloyds Bank to me. Also the unit next to it is derelict.

I know Lloyds closed that branch around 1986 - and moved Brixton accounts to Camberwell. My guess is the photo is 1986 or 1987.


----------



## editor (Apr 30, 2019)

It's a poor copy, but here you can see the Bovril sign in all its original glory! And look how nice Tate gardens once were.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 30, 2019)

CH1 said:


> I know Lloyds closed that branch around 1986 - and moved Brixton accounts to Camberwell. My guess is the photo is 1986 or 1987.



dunno.

Lettering looks the right shape for LLOYDS BANK but can't make it out clearly.

Bus looks like a Routemaster on the 2B which isn't a lot of help as that puts it anywhere from mid 60s to late 80s

None of the cars are obviously as late as 1986/7 which isn't conclusive.

The clothes look earlier than 1986 / 7 but again not conclusive.



editor said:


> It's a poor copy, but here you can see the Bovril sign in all its original glory! And look how nice Tate gardens once were.



and with the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth bogs fully functioning


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 30, 2019)

can't think where else to post this, came up on Tweeter - 



> This pamphlet was published by the BBC Caribbean Service around 1959 when total migration to Britain from the Caribbean peaked. Originally a series of radio broadcasts, it was primarily written by Caribbean men who were already living in London – including the novelist Samuel Selvon.



Link here.  Click on the 'view images from this item' and the whole thing seems to be there.


----------



## RoyReed (May 1, 2019)

editor said:


> It's a poor copy, but here you can see the Bovril sign in all its original glory! And look how nice Tate gardens once were.
> 
> View attachment 169448


Great photo!

That's an earlier iteration of the Bovril sign. The one you can see now has all of the letters the same height, with no strap-line underneath. I'm guessing this is 1930s and the current one is 1950s or early '60s.

What does it say above _Bovril_? It looks like the top half of the letters has been cut off. Brixton Free Press?

Oxade (the ad to the left of the Capstan ad) was a brand that sold powdered lemonade and orangeade.

E2A - In the early 1930s the Oxo company launched several new products, all in tablet form. There was Oxade Cocoa, Oxade Lemonade and Orangeade. There were also table jellies and Oxo toffees. None were successful. So totally had Oxo established itself as being synonymous with beef that it was not easy for it suddenly to become synonymous with oranges and lemons.


----------



## editor (May 4, 2019)




----------



## editor (May 6, 2019)

Love this pic (photographer unknown)


----------



## editor (May 15, 2019)

Brixton history: hiring a Napier 6 cylinder car in 1910


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## editor (May 17, 2019)

I'm doing a history piece on Our Sons and have come across this photo. But where was it taken? The number is wrong for Electric Ave (and their Golders Green branch) and it's not Brixton Road....


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## Puddy_Tat (May 17, 2019)

Editor said:


> I'm doing a history piece on Our Sons



they got a mention in 'commercial motor' in November 1922 for a new van - article here - but can't read any branch addresses.

presume you've seen this.

photo is the Golders Green shop - after a certain amount of unproductive research, i've established that 'the promenade' is the row of shops that included 93 - 95 Golders Green Road, listing info here.   the brickwork round the first floor windows matches even if that sort of shop doorway is now a thing of the past (a waste of retail space and somewhere for unsocial activities to happen!)

Golders Green branch was listed in 1914 Middlesex directory, and the Electric Avenue in the 1911 and 1919 London Suburbs directories.

Balloons round the doors suggest possible opening of the new branch?

can't find anything online about the company - can usually trace something in London Gazette, but no traces of 'our sons ltd'


----------



## editor (May 18, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> can't find anything online about the company - can usually trace something in London Gazette, but no traces of 'our sons ltd'


I had a good look too, but nothing came up. Strange.


----------



## editor (May 29, 2019)

Loughborough estate 1962

(photographer unknown)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 30, 2019)

on flickr today - tram passing Stockwell Primary School / Pride and Clarke / Old Queens Head, early 1950s


----------



## editor (Jun 1, 2019)

1920s pic:


----------



## CH1 (Jun 2, 2019)

"For your throat's sake"??
I used to smoke Craven A. Back in the era of the photo above the selling point was that Craven A were cork tipped - ie they had the familiar brown tips which were less likely to collapse due to spittle from the lips. Manufactured cigarettes then would all have been plain, without filter.
Presumably Craven A would have been early in the filtered cigarette market, but by the 1950s/1960s the brand was uncommon - it was all about Embassy and Player's No 6.
 
Ar the peak of my (former) smoking days between 1980-1995 Craven A were revived by British American tobacco as a budget brand, and also State Express 555 were pushed as a BAT mid-market brand under-cutting Benson & Hedges (Gallaher at that time).


----------



## RoyReed (Jun 2, 2019)

It's very faded now, but there's 'ghostsign' of a Craven A ad at the Oval end of the Brixton Road.




Craven 'A' Ghost Sign by Roy Reed, on Flickr


----------



## RoyReed (Jun 2, 2019)

Which originally would have looked something like this.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 13, 2019)

probably stretching a point, but this one's bugging me



described only as 'Lambeth' so could be borough (either pre or post 1965 version) or could mean the Lambeth neighbourhood.  Or might be wrong altogether.

any bright ideas?  I'm sure I've seen pictures (if not the real thing) of that building before, but can't place it.  It may of course not be there any more.  

From the combination of bus and tram, picture is post-war and no later than July 1952.


----------



## RubyToogood (Jun 14, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> probably stretching a point, but this one's bugging me
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It reminds me of the old fire station on Albert Embankment, but it's not that. I suspect whatever it was isn't there any more.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 14, 2019)

RubyToogood said:


> It reminds me of the old fire station on Albert Embankment, but it's not that.



Yes, that was one of my thoughts.

It could well be / have been in that sort of patch - tram and bus would fit...


----------



## happyshopper (Jun 14, 2019)

RubyToogood said:


> It reminds me of the old fire station on Albert Embankment, but it's not that. I suspect whatever it was isn't there any more.


Almost right. I think it’s the Doulton works next door that was replaced by the IMO building. I have a vague memory that the frieze was preserved.


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## happyshopper (Jun 14, 2019)

happyshopper said:


> Almost right. I think it’s the Doulton works next door that was replaced by the IMO building. I have a vague memory that the frieze was preserved.


Yes. See this link to the Vauxhall Society post in the subject.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 14, 2019)

happyshopper said:


> Almost right. I think it’s the Doulton works next door that was replaced by the IMO building. I have a vague memory that the frieze was preserved.





thanks


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 19, 2019)

alerted on teh tweeter today



> Free exhibition in Brixton to celebrate the presence of Black communities in Lambeth over the past 350 years



more on SLP website


----------



## Gramsci (Jun 22, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> alerted on teh tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> more on SLP website



Went to see this today. Posted up some pics on the Brixton Summer thread.

Interesting small exhibition.

My problem with this kind of history is that it brings up issues but doesn't go into them.

Its a kind of upbeat this country was "multiculturalist" goes back for years argument ( see SLP article).

What the exhibition I thought brought up was this countries history of slavery, racism and imperialism.

Though in the exhibition this is not foregrounded. Which after leaving the exhibition I found frustrating.

The exhibition side steps this with putting forward it we all get to know that black people have been in this country for centuries multiculturalism will be accepted.

One table in exhibition brought this into the foreground but didn't really say anything about it. The table with old Music Hall posters. Acts that were about an Orientalist view of black people. Including acts where white performers "blacked" up. Raised whole load of issues of how this country viewed black people. But frustratingly not dealt with in this exhibition. Almost like lets show this but don't go into it to deeply.

I do wish exhibitions like this would include more of their debates about race and this country. Particularly its Imperialist past. And slavery. To often the prevailing view is about how "we" abolished slavery. So lets just forget how slavery of African people was important part of the British history.

This is what I would say is a safe view of history. The kind of presentation of this countries history that won't frighten middle England.

History of the middle ground.

To add my Polish friend has just done the full Citizenship course to become proper UK citizen. You have to pass exam in Britishness now. Looking at bits of the book for it its like this exhibition.

Despite unfortunate things like slavery this country is at heart tolerant.

Its myth making a kind of UK that imo isn't true


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## CH1 (Jun 22, 2019)

Gramsci said:


> Went to see this today. Posted up some pics on the Brixton Summer thread.
> 
> Interesting small exhibition.
> 
> ...


Off topic I know but two points in response:

1. In the notorious Lord Mayor's Banquet where the Tory MP got a Greenpeece protester by the scruff of the neck, Mark Carney, the retiring Governor of the Bank of England (who is a Canadian) said he is now also a British citizen and had somehow managed to pass his citizenship test. He kept making odd-ball points about citizenship test questions (such as Henry VIII's wives, number of Welsh Assembly members is 60 etc etc). I took this to be a piss take.

2. The attitude to black people in this country has always been weird. I highly recommend this PhD treatise by Tamara Lewis of Nashville Tennessee who goes into this issue from Henry VIII to the present day in the UK.

Sorry to say as a Christian that religion has a lot to do with it. Both in terms of the "othering" that lent respectability to the slave trade and later on arguing for abolition.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jun 24, 2019)

stretching a point slightly - a bus to brixton, late 1940s at grosvenor place, victoria (bus dates from 1937 - towards the end of its time on London's streets by then)


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## CH1 (Jun 25, 2019)

Gramsci Puddy_Tat and others the David Olusoga BBC2 film about Windrush and the hostile environment was well worth seeing. Seems that Atlee's government in 1948 was unhappy about Caribbean immigration, and Churchill actually proposed "Keep Britain White" as an election slogan (according to David Olusoga).

Might go well with the Lambeth Town Hall exhibition (which I haven't seen yet).

BBC Two - The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files


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## Puddy_Tat (Jun 25, 2019)

CH1 said:


> Gramsci Puddy_Tat and others the David Olusoga BBC2 film about Windrush and the hostile environment was well worth seeing. Seems that Atlee's government in 1948 was unhappy about Caribbean immigration, and Churchill actually proposed "Keep Britain White" as an election slogan (according to David Olusoga).
> 
> Might go well with the Lambeth Town Hall exhibition (which I haven't seen yet).
> 
> BBC Two - The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files



Thanks - yes, I did watch that (didn't spot that it was on until a minute or two before it started).

the "we want to implement a racist policy without it being blatant we're implementing a racist policy" approach of a few governments...


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## Gramsci (Jun 25, 2019)

CH1 said:


> Gramsci Puddy_Tat and others the David Olusoga BBC2 film about Windrush and the hostile environment was well worth seeing. Seems that Atlee's government in 1948 was unhappy about Caribbean immigration, and Churchill actually proposed "Keep Britain White" as an election slogan (according to David Olusoga).
> 
> Might go well with the Lambeth Town Hall exhibition (which I haven't seen yet).
> 
> BBC Two - The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files



Thanks for this. I will watch it.

Reading the link I disagree  with it when it says the Windrush generation were not the target of the more recent hostile environment. In practise they were. Talking to locals problems over right to stay have been going on for several years. Yet the government did nothing to change this until the media brought it to public attention.

The same thing will happen to EU people after Brexit with the so called Settled Status.

As a Black British friend said to me the way that EU nationals here are treated is the same way his parents were who came here from Carribbean. His view was that Farage is a racist. That Brexit was about immigration.

I have acquaintance who applied to renew passport recently. There status was questioned. Fortunately their father had old documents to back them up. Hostile environment hasn't gone away.


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## GarveyLives (Jun 25, 2019)

Gramsci said:


> _What the exhibition I thought brought up was this countries *history of slavery, racism and imperialism*.
> 
> Though in the exhibition this is not foregrounded. Which after leaving the exhibition I found frustrating.
> 
> ...



These matters are discussed occasionally, although any debate tends to be polluted by exhortations of how 'grateful' Africans should be for their enslavement, colonisation, dispersion across the globe and neo-colonisation and the resulting economic, social and cultural devastation:

June 2016: British people are _*proud*_ of colonialism and the British Empire, poll finds

June 2016: Wake up, Britain. Should the empire really be a source of pride?

March 2018: When will Britain face up to its _crimes against humanity_?

April 2019: Why are so many afraid to confront Britain’s historical links with the slave trade?

Although work has been done on the African presence in the UK since ancient times, I am uncertain how much detailed work has been done to investigate any African presence specifically in Brixton (as opposed to London) prior to the arrival of Africans (and others) from the Caribbean post-1945.


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## editor (Jul 8, 2019)

Lovely bit of history!


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## editor (Jul 8, 2019)

Leander Road

 

leanderman


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## editor (Jul 23, 2019)

Love this photo of Atlantic Road


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 24, 2019)

on flickr today.  looks like mid to late 20s


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## editor (Jul 26, 2019)

Brixton history: Atlantic Road in the 1920s – bargains, wireless radios and the demise of Freeman, Hardy and Willis


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## 19sixtysix (Jul 26, 2019)

Top photo has the gantries carrying the overhead wires of the original south london line electrification.
The rather good AEG 6.3 KV ac system. Just remember that when a drop of snow shuts the 3rd rail lines.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 30, 2019)

on flickr today



forecourt of the 'White Horse' (Brixton Jamm) on Brixton Road.

looks as though 'invalid carriage rallies' were a thing - this from 1949 (at Richmond Park)



this photo from 1950 or later going by the two registration numbers


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 1, 2019)

on flickr today - tram, pride and clarke and the 'old queens head'


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 5, 2019)

today's - brixton road, just north of stockwell road, heading north


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## BusLanes (Aug 6, 2019)

Speaking of which, is Mursell estate in Stockwell just named after the street?


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 6, 2019)

today



Brixton Hill, 1937, taken from Dumbarton Court, looking towards where Deepdene Gardens is now.

I've seen a few shots of second hand motor traders on Brixton Hill from that and post-war era before, but didn't realise how much of a cluster it was.

post-war OS map shows how big the plots and front gardens were


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## lang rabbie (Aug 10, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> today
> 
> 
> 
> ...




First time I have seen a picture of the buildings of lost side streets of Calder's Row and Cowper's Row (or more likely first time I have looked closely enough to see it) .


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## editor (Aug 11, 2019)

WW2 bomb damage.


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## Gramsci (Aug 12, 2019)

Today in London anarchist history, 1999: the 121 Centre evicted, Brixton


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## trabuquera (Aug 12, 2019)

^ pic liked for the history and the familiarity / unfamiliarity, not for the actual bomb damage obviously


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## editor (Aug 12, 2019)




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## editor (Aug 12, 2019)

Love this pic of Railton Road


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## editor (Aug 12, 2019)




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## Metroman (Aug 13, 2019)

editor said:


> Love this pic of Railton Road
> 
> View attachment 180638



Pre 1970?


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## CH1 (Aug 13, 2019)

Metroman said:


> Pre 1970?


I would say so - mid 1960s probably. It all looks well kempt - which suggests the blight had not yet set in.

For background to the up and coming urban blight which hit Brixton in the 1970s, can I recommend this talk - organised by the Brixton Society as part of the Lambeth Heritage Festival?


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## urbanspaceman (Aug 13, 2019)

CH1 said:


> I would say so - mid 1960s probably. It all looks well kempt - which suggests the blight had not yet set in.
> 
> For background to the up and coming urban blight which hit Brixton in the 1970s, can I recommend this talk - organised by the Brixton Society as part of the Lambeth Heritage Festival?
> View attachment 180736



The Heritage Festival looks interesting:

lpl-lambeth-heritage-festival-brochure-2019.pdf


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## editor (Aug 20, 2019)

I didn't know BAT were behind Bon Marche


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## MissL (Aug 20, 2019)

editor said:


> I didn't know BAT were behind Bon Marche




Urgh - let's give something back to the public who we've been knowingly killing for years in a vague attempt to improve our image. C***s.


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## lang rabbie (Aug 24, 2019)

editor said:


> I didn't know BAT were behind Bon Marche




Not quite so odd - at the time BAT were a conglomerate that had bought Argos in the 1970s and also had big insurance interests, but undoubtedly their corporate responsibility stuff was all part of a campaign to stop people seeing them solely as pushers of cancer sticks.

They put in a cumulative £5.9million into the Bon Marche project over thirteen years.  
https://www.bonmarchebusinesscentre.co.uk/History.aspx


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## CH1 (Aug 25, 2019)

lang rabbie said:


> Not quite so odd - at the time BAT were a conglomerate that had bought Argos in the 1970s and also had big insurance interests, but undoubtedly their corporate responsibility stuff was all part of a campaign to stop people seeing them solely as pushers of cancer sticks.
> 
> They put in a cumulative £5.9million into the Bon Marche project over thirteen years.
> https://www.bonmarchebusinesscentre.co.uk/History.aspx


I was trying to figure out who the politicians were. The guy with the mayoral chains was either Hugh Chambers or Robert Greenwood (successive Tory mayors in a Labour-led hung council).

The woman expressing surprise that Grand Met were getting involved must have been either Joan Walley or Hazel Smith, I would say. 
 
There is very little information about that era on the internet. Either Google have turned my algorithms off, or genuinely nothing got digitised. 

The pictures of Joan Whalley and Hazel Smith come from a campaigning document about the surcharged Lambeth councillors which has been put up by Labour/socialist sources. Lambeth Council has zilch.


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## happyshopper (Aug 28, 2019)

CH1 said:


> I was trying to figure out who the politicians were. ...
> The woman expressing surprise that Grand Met were getting involved must have been either Joan Walley or Hazel Smith, I would say.


Neither. It's Jo Sinclair.


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## CH1 (Aug 28, 2019)

happyshopper said:


> Neither. It's Jo Sinclair.


Makes sense - she was a Ferndale Ward councillor.


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## editor (Sep 3, 2019)

Brixton history 






Listed buildings of Lambeth: admire the vermiculate quoins of 118 and 120, Ferndale Road, SW4


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## CH1 (Sep 6, 2019)

Apparently the shortest serving British Prime Minister so far was George Canning - celebrated in the 1896 Victorian mega pub below. This replaced an 1820s pub - when George Canning would have been in his prime. George Canning was a successful Foreign Secretary in the Napoleonic War and came to office as Prime Minister as a compromise candidate on the death of Lord Liverpool. 

Rather like today the Tories at that time were split. Canning was a liberal Tory and had to ask Whigs into government because his High Tory colleagues refused to support Canningite policies. George Canning himself was in poor health by 1827 and died in office age 57 after being Prime Minsiter for 119 days.

The reason I'm boring you with all this is that Boris is currently competing with George Canning for the shortest serving Prime Miinister.
As of today - 7th September 2019 it's George Canning on 119 days,  Boris Johnson on 44 days.

Image of the George Canning public house in Effra Road (now Hootenanny) from the Linskey postcard collection via Lambeth Archives


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## editor (Sep 10, 2019)

Brixton at night, 1995 around Christmas. I was hoping to see myself in there!

Truth is, not a lot has changed in the centre.


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## lang rabbie (Sep 12, 2019)

*Markets, Megastructures and Motorways - Exploring the 1969 Brixton Plan*
Brixton Society Talk
*TONIGHT at 7pm.
Vida Walsh Centre, 2b Saltoun Road, SW2 1EP*

Suspect it may attract an out of town hipster "Brutalism is cool as fuck, yeah" crowd but no doubt there will be sufficient locals to put them in their place.



CH1 said:


> ...Can I recommend this talk - organised by the Brixton Society as part of the Lambeth Heritage Festival?
> View attachment 180736


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## editor (Sep 12, 2019)

lang rabbie said:


> *Markets, Megastructures and Motorways
> Brixton Society Talk
> TONIGHT at 7pm.
> Vida Walsh Centre, 2b Saltoun Road, SW2 1EP*
> ...


Are you going? Fancy writing a report for Buzz?


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## killer b (Sep 12, 2019)

lang rabbie said:


> Suspect it may attract an out of town hipster "Brutalism is cool as fuck, yeah" crowd


Doubtless - I wanted to come.


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## teuchter (Sep 12, 2019)

lang rabbie said:


> View attachment 183991 *Markets, Megastructures and Motorways - Exploring the 1969 Brixton Plan*
> Brixton Society Talk
> *TONIGHT at 7pm.
> Vida Walsh Centre, 2b Saltoun Road, SW2 1EP*
> ...


I was at this

Seemed fairly hipster free to me


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## Jimbeau (Sep 13, 2019)

teuchter said:


> I was at this
> 
> Seemed fairly hipster free to me




Me too. I’m not far off fifty, and was one of the youngest in the room...


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## blossie33 (Sep 13, 2019)

Courtesy of Ian Visits FB page today 
Waltons Corner, Brixton Road 1931


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## CH1 (Sep 13, 2019)

Jimbeau said:


> Me too. I’m not far off fifty, and was one of the youngest in the room...


I'm much worse than that. One of the audience not far off 50 asked me whether I knew anything about a walk on 28th September - "The Brixton that Wasn't" organised by Photofusion.

I was interrogating my Eventbrite bookings just now, in case I'd missed something, and it turns out I'd actually booked myself on this walk 10 days ago! Apologies to the man who asked me at the meeting. It does seem that there are still places to be had for the walk, led by artist Ellie Laycock, free, but donations welcome.


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## lang rabbie (Sep 13, 2019)

teuchter said:


> I was at this
> 
> Seemed fairly hipster free to me


I suppose the Instagram kidz are more likely to be at the Photofusion gig later in the month.

Edited to add - I meant the talk and screening of Utopia London at Photofusion on Wednesday 25th not the walk that CH1 has linked to above.

It was previously displaying as "sold out" on Eventbrite, but seems to have come back into availability - they must be borrowing some extra chairs from the Rec!

THE BRIXTON THAT WASN’T and UTOPIA LONDON


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## CH1 (Sep 14, 2019)

Slightly peripheral - but people who've read Urban for several years may remember discussion of the inscription on the Wynne Road side wall of Liberal House (formerly Asian Community Action Centre and 100 years ago Brixton Liberal Association) 322 Brixton Road. There was a thread in 2014.





I happened upon a short Agentinian video inspired by Earth: Inferno - an early work by Austin Osman Spare. Spare died in Wynne Road in 1956, though lived most of his life in Walworth. He seems to have become a bit of a cult figure now, but his interest in esoteric and hermetic matters may have led to him being marginal in his lifetime.

The video contains some nudity, meaning you have to sign in on Youtube due to their community affairs policy.
I also found a pdf copy of Earth Inferno - attached. This is a 30 page book of text and illustations in the manner of William Blake perhaps, though the look is more like Aubrey Beardsley. Original text, but quotes also from the Book of Revelation and the Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam.


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## CH1 (Sep 23, 2019)

Not in Brixton - but accessible on 3 bus routes in minutes. I went here as one of my Open House London spots. The picture is the Crystal Palace Subway. Fell into disuse following the 1936 fire which burned down the Crystal Place - the subway was built to create an imposing sheltered walkway between Crystal Palace station (higher level) and the entrance to Crystal Palace. It is currently under restoration by a Friends group. Last intensive use was as wartime air-raid shelter. Crystal Palace high level station was closed and demolished in 1961, so the subway is only of historical and aesthetic importance.


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## waxoyl (Sep 23, 2019)

Found this while sorting out some paper work.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





.


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## GarveyLives (Sep 27, 2019)

GarveyLives said:


> These matters are discussed occasionally, although any debate tends to be polluted by exhortations of how 'grateful' Africans should be for their enslavement, colonisation, dispersion across the globe and neo-colonisation and the resulting economic, social and cultural devastation:
> 
> June 2016: British people are _*proud*_ of colonialism and the British Empire, poll finds
> 
> ...



Clearly, some work must have been done on the African presence in Lambeth as evidenced below:


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## Jess Sherratt (Oct 3, 2019)

Not sure if I am posting in the correct place, apologies if not. I'm writing because my aunty Sally Sherratt used to live and work in Brixton in the 70s and 80s and I was wondering if anyone knew her or had any memories of the resteraunts she used to run. I know her first one was called the Bon ton Roulet and was near Brockwell park. Any information would be great.
Thank you


----------



## friendofdorothy (Oct 6, 2019)

Jess Sherratt said:


> Not sure if I am posting in the correct place, apologies if not. I'm writing because my aunty Sally Sherratt used to live and work in Brixton in the 70s and 80s and I was wondering if anyone knew her or had any memories of the resteraunts she used to run. I know her first one was called the Bon ton Roulet and was near Brockwell park. Any information would be great.
> Thank you


Hi. I recall eating in the Bon Ton Roule it was on the block next to what is now The Florence pub (used to be the Brockwell Tavern) I think it might be where 121 bar is now, at no121 Dulwich road, which is opposite the park. I recall eating french food there a couple of times in the mid to late 80's. I can only recall the food was great and it must have been inexpensive as I wasn't flush. I didn't know who ran it sorry.


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## brixtonscot (Oct 6, 2019)

Some references to shebeens of Brixton here....
- " Somerleyton Road, the heart of West Indian settlement in Brixton, ‘was wide open, a shebeen in every other basement’. These parties ‘gave off a sharp joy, snatched, sometimes, from the edge of despair’, a warmth supplied, as McGlashen wrote, quoting from Edward Kamau Brathwaite’s _Rights of Passage_ , “with our hips and the art of our shuffle shoes”’
The rise and fall of the drinking club


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## ricbake (Oct 6, 2019)

Ate in the Bon Ton Roule in the mid 90s - They did rotis among other things,  it was a hippy ish place. Think we sat in the basement ate mussels.  It was uncomfortably cold...


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## CH1 (Oct 12, 2019)

CH1 said:


> Slightly peripheral - but people who've read Urban for several years may remember discussion of the inscription on the Wynne Road side wall of Liberal House (formerly Asian Community Action Centre and 100 years ago Brixton Liberal Association) 322 Brixton Road. There was a thread in 2014.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



More on Austin Spare in this Wikipedia article Chaos magic - Wikipedia


----------



## GarveyLives (Oct 14, 2019)

After _47 years_, a local injustice moves one step closer to being rectified:

'Oval Four' could be cleared after _47 years_ in wake of corrupt officer case











​


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## CH1 (Oct 14, 2019)

GarveyLives said:


> After _47 years_, a local injustice moves one step closer to being rectified:
> 
> 'Oval Four' could be cleared after _47 years_ in wake of corrupt officer case​



Interesting that the arresting officer was trained in Southern Rhodesia according to the Guardian.
The case made Radio Four Today programme this morning - Winston Trew was interviewed.​


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## theboris (Oct 15, 2019)

Jess Sherratt said:


> Not sure if I am posting in the correct place, apologies if not. I'm writing because my aunty Sally Sherratt used to live and work in Brixton in the 70s and 80s and I was wondering if anyone knew her or had any memories of the resteraunts she used to run. I know her first one was called the Bon ton Roulet and was near Brockwell park. Any information would be great.
> Thank you


There's a 'memories of Brixton and Stockwell' FB group, with lots of old timers who may be able to help


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## theboris (Oct 15, 2019)

CH1 said:


> Interesting that the arresting officer was trained in Southern Rhodesia according to the Guardian.
> The case made Radio Four Today programme this morning - Winston Trew was interviewed.​


Great quote from him to excuse the actions that finally got him nicked 'I just went bent.'


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## friendofdorothy (Oct 16, 2019)

This is a wonderful exhibition of original photos:
*
WINDRUSH MEMORIES - A COLLECTION SHARED *
An exhibition of images, narratives, poems and crafted objects inspired by 19 b/w photograph of Windrush arrivals following workshops with young and older people in the community.  Organised by Dirg Aaab-Richards and Age UK Lambeth as part of Age UK *Celebrating Age Festival*.

Come and see the pictures exhibited at "We Are 336", 336 Brixton Road, London SW9 7AA
18th October - 30th October 2019 - during office hours.


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## editor (Oct 29, 2019)

Fifteen years ago - Brixton 15 years ago: street scenes from October 2004


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## editor (Nov 1, 2019)

Excellent piece Today in London riotous history, 1982: Evictions & demolitions of squats spark rioting in Brixton


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## CH1 (Nov 1, 2019)

editor said:


> Fifteen years ago - Brixton 15 years ago: street scenes from October 2004


That picture says it all. We had a full service book shop then. Index Books were nice people, probably the least dogmatic faction of the defunct WRP. That site was a poor second - allocated when Lambeth Council chucked them out of their much more spacious Atlantic Road shop - in order to redevelop the site for Argos. I expect the final coup de grâce was the emergence of Amazon as a near-monopoly supplier of books on order. I remember one of the staff saying to me that the biggest seller in their "Marxist" shop was the Bible.


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## editor (Nov 10, 2019)

Interesting stuff Brixton’s Black Cultural Archives team up with Google to put 4,000 items from their collection online


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## editor (Nov 12, 2019)

A decade ago:











colacubes 








Brixton 10 years Ago: Brockwell Fireworks, gigs and street scenes, November 2009


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 29, 2019)

I think I've worked out what's happening on both layers of the 'Our Sons' ghostsign on Electric Lane.




Our Sons - Menswear by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Our Sons - Menswear by Roy Reed, on Flickr




Our Sons - Menswear by Roy Reed, on Flickr

I can hardly make out any identifiable remains of the Jantzen Diving figure on the wall, but it fits perfectly and there's a very big gap if it's not there.


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## lang rabbie (Nov 29, 2019)

Thanks for creating those RoyReed 

Given that Our Sons was always a gents outfitters, I wonder if the image might have been of a chap in Jantzen bathing trunks.


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## RoyReed (Nov 29, 2019)

lang rabbie said:


> Thanks for creating those RoyReed
> 
> Given that Our Sons was always a gents outfitters, I wonder if the image might have been of a chap in Jantzen bathing trunks.
> 
> View attachment 191378


I don't think so. The woman diver was pretty much part of their logo.


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## GarveyLives (Dec 5, 2019)

GarveyLives said:


> After _47 years_, a local injustice moves one step closer to being rectified:
> 
> 'Oval Four' could be cleared after _47 years_ in wake of corrupt officer case
> 
> ...




Oval Four: Black men jailed after being framed by racist police officer have convictions quashed almost 50 years later






(Source: as stated in image)

*Lord Burnett said it was “clear that these convictions are unsafe”, adding: “We would wish only to note our regret that it has taken so long for this injustice to be remedied.”*​


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## nemoanonemo (Dec 23, 2019)

From the Evening Standard web site:
*1927*

An array of Christmas lights brightening department stores Bon Marche and Quin and Axtens on Brixton Road, London
General Photographic Agency/Getty Images


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 23, 2019)

on teh tweeter today


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 24, 2019)

on flickr today

norwood road, just south of the junction of trinity rise, looking north.  somewhere between 1945 and early 1952.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 28, 2019)

another one today



fairly sure i've posted other shots of the same location - top end of Effra Road, tram is heading south approaching the 'change pit' (where trams changed between the conduit electric supply and overhead wire)


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## CH1 (Dec 28, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> another one today
> 
> 
> 
> fairly sure i've posted other shots of the same location - top end of Effra Road, tram is heading south approaching the 'change pit' (where trams changed between the conduit electric supply and overhead wire)



So the Esso sign is for the garage which used to exist on Rushcroft Road, then briefly became an anarchist garden centre around 1995 before being evicted by the Environmental Services under their flamboyant Director Mr Paul Duffield.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 28, 2019)

CH1 said:


> So the Esso sign is for the garage which used to exist on Rushcroft Road, then briefly became an anarchist garden centre around 1995 before being evicted by the Environmental Services under their flamboyant Director Mr Paul Duffield.



yes - presume so - I don't remember either

1950 OS Map shows the site on the corner of Rushcroft Road and this shows the petrol station 







(from this page and click on the image on their page for larger version - although photo seems to have been scanned in two halves and not stuck together quite right)

petrol station shows "no private cars supplied" - not sure quite what that's about, possibly wartime / just post-war restrictions, although the feel of it is pre-1939.  can't spot anything obvious to date it, the tram dates from about 1931.


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## editor (Dec 28, 2019)

CH1 said:


> So the Esso sign is for the garage which used to exist on Rushcroft Road, then briefly became an anarchist garden centre around 1995 before being evicted by the Environmental Services under their flamboyant Director Mr Paul Duffield.


I remember that garage, but don't remember the anarchist garden centre. What happened there?!


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## CH1 (Dec 29, 2019)

editor said:


> I remember that garage, but don't remember the anarchist garden centre. What happened there?!


The petrol station was just standing empty and derelict as it had been for years and some people decided to sell flowers and pot plants there. It got quite popular - a good site for passing trade. People popped in and bought stuff on the way home.

I can't remember whether the old bus station /wicker furniture store was still still there at that point. Anyway the whole site had to be cleared to create what we now have as Windrush Square. 

The flower/plant shop in the petrol station site was sufficiently popular that a petition was handed in to full council to save it. As you can imagine the petition was noted but ignored.


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## editor (Dec 30, 2019)

10 years ago 
















Brixton Ten Years Ago: Snowy scenes, bandstand carols, pub and club scenes, Dec 2009


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## editor (Jan 4, 2020)

Love these old pics! Brixton theatrical’s past: Victorian actors pose for postcard views in Brixton Hill studio


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 7, 2020)

under milkwood on tweeter has posted a few today


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 12, 2020)

on flickr today.


----------



## GarveyLives (Jan 13, 2020)

GarveyLives said:


> Oval Four: Black men jailed after being framed by racist police officer have convictions quashed almost 50 years later
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Welcome news:

Last Oval Four man has 1972 conviction referred to court of appeal


----------



## editor (Jan 15, 2020)

Ten years ago 
























						Brixton 10 Years Ago: Snow, Brixton Village and Windrush Square rebuilding, January 2010
					

It was pretty blooming chilly around Brixton town in January 2010, and this series of photos shows snowy scenes around Coldharbour Lane and Loughborough Park, along with a look inside Brixton Villa…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## editor (Jan 17, 2020)

Loads of detail in this Atlantic Road view!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 17, 2020)

editor said:


> Loads of detail in this Atlantic Road view!





the London Electricity Board shop puts the picture after 1948


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 24, 2020)

Brixton Hill, 1950/51 posted on tweeter by Lambeth Archives today






tired looking tram probably doesn't have much longer to run in London (although most of the 'Feltham' class trams, which were London's most modern, dating from 1930/1, got sold on to Leeds for further service) - tram 18 became bus 109 in April 1951


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## editor (Jan 26, 2020)

62 Railton Road, 1984.  What the heck were these Speculative Mechanics?!


----------



## madolesance (Jan 26, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Brixton Hill, 1950/51 posted on tweeter by Lambeth Archives today
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I saw this picture somewhere else (FB), and it was suggested it was traveling up Brixton Hill past Sudbourne Road but is displaying Embankment as a destination. What's that all about?


----------



## editor (Jan 26, 2020)

madolesance said:


> I saw this picture somewhere else (FB), and it was suggested it was traveling up Brixton Hill past Sudbourne Road but is displaying Embankment as a destination. What's that all about?


Isn't that the back of the tram?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 26, 2020)

madolesance said:


> I saw this picture somewhere else (FB), and it was suggested it was traveling up Brixton Hill past Sudbourne Road but is displaying Embankment as a destination. What's that all about?



i think it's just south of brixton town centre, heading north away from the photographer (isn't that the town hall tower in about the middle of the picture?)

Victoria Embankment was a terminus for many south london tram routes - the 18 went over blackfriars bridge and back over westminster bridge, the 16 did the same thing in the opposite direction.  bus 109 did this until the late 80s (from memory, it was the last tram replacement route to do that)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 26, 2020)

editor said:


> 62 Railton Road, 1984. What the heck were these Speculative Mechanics?!





seems to be some sort of masonic / weird religious fusion, but can't trace them on the interwebs...


----------



## madolesance (Jan 26, 2020)

editor said:


> Isn't that the back of the tram?


Yer right! Reckon it's heading down Brixton Hill past Water Lane. And looking at the track paints a different picture.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 26, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> seems to be some sort of masonic / weird religious fusion, but can't trace them on the interwebs...



something about them in the 'spectator' 19.1.85, but it's behind a paywall...


----------



## editor (Jan 26, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> something about them in the 'spectator' 19.1.85, but it's behind a paywall...


Here you go: 


> In a fruitless quest for my colleague Colin Welch's stolen briefcase, I paid a visit to Railton Road in Brixton not long ago, I had long been intrigued by a boarded-up shop there with Rastas hanging around the door. Once when a pair of them laughingly carried a crate of beer inside, I had caught a glimpse of an enchanting tropical landscape with palm trees, painted on one of the walls. So on this occasion I decided to knock and announce myself.
> 
> splendid sign above the door, in large ,Gothic lettering, declared the place to be the Grand Lodge of the 'Ancient Order of Melchiseder Speculative Mechanics'. I edged through the crowd, but to my disappointment, when the door was opened the place proved to be a pool hall! Not a Bingyman or a Speculative Mechanic was in sight, only a pool table and a bar at the rear of the battered room. The palm tree painting had gone, but another inferior mural remained. Two of the pool players in the crowded room had Rasta hair and bonnets, but none seemed to be serious members of anything more than a snooker club. My entrance was greeted with great alarm, and strong men flew to bar my way. Fear turned to relief when I said I was a writer looking for a Rasta temple.
> 
> ...


More: Outline - Read & annotate without distractions


----------



## GarveyLives (Jan 27, 2020)

GarveyLives said:


> Welcome news:
> 
> Last Oval Four man has 1972 conviction referred to court of appeal


For information - the case will be subject to discussion later today:


----------



## editor (Feb 4, 2020)

Some interesting businesses listed in this Brixton Theatre programme from 1925


----------



## CH1 (Feb 8, 2020)

editor said:


> Some interesting businesses listed in this Brixton Theatre programme from 1925
> 
> View attachment 197562


Looks like Pope's Road may have formerly been the Midland Depot?


----------



## editor (Feb 8, 2020)

CH1 said:


> Looks like Pope's Road may have formerly been the Midland Depot?


Documented in detail here











						Lost scenes of Brixton – the coal depot at Pope’s Road - urban75: art, photos, walks
					

There's been a busy street market in Pope's Road, Brixton for over a hundred years, and although the market is still going strong, one part of the scene has vanished forever: the old coal staithes. 1885 pamphlet for B.M. Tite & Son, Coal & Coke merchants at Brixton station [source]. Coal...




					www.urban75.org


----------



## MissL (Feb 8, 2020)

Just come across this lovely lady while researching something else - Margaret Waters - Wikipedia

Apparently Brixton was the centre for babyfarming in the mid 1800s - Margaret Waters: The Role of the Baby Farmer in Victorian Society – Victorian Crime, Sex & Scandal


----------



## MissL (Feb 8, 2020)

And you can read more about how and where (Gordon Grove) she and her younger sister were caught in chapter 11 of this online book - Massacre of the Innocents


----------



## krtek a houby (Feb 9, 2020)

Not sure if this is the right place for this video, but there's a bit of history of the area, including the Effra river, the Ritzy, Electric Avenue, the Dog Star, Bowie and other local familiar faces and places. Brixtonites will probably know all there is to know, but I found it interesting


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 11, 2020)

coming along at the crich tramway museum (or whatever it's called these days) - former London County Council tram no. 1 under restoration

no 1 (built 1932) was the prototype for a new generation of London trams, that ended up not being built after London Transport took over.

it started services (in a one-off blue livery) on the Kingsway Subway routes, including Manor House - West Norwood via Brixton, then in the late 30s transferred to the Streatham Hill depot.

ETA - picture from here


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 14, 2020)

Alan Russell (@soxgnasher) on Twitter is tweeting old london pub photos at the moment







George The Fourth Hotel 144-156 Brixton Hill 1905  






Tulse Hill Hotel - no date, but looks like pre 1914


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 15, 2020)

this came up on twitter today - 

Updated presentation on Railton Road for the Liminal London at Birkbeck on 21st Feb -still work in progress 

linkage (MS Sway)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 16, 2020)

came up on tweeter today - 

new 'Histories in Focus' talks, first is afternoon of Sat 22 February at the South London Gallery (between Camberwell and Peckham) on "key moments of local resistance to top-down planning and ill-conceived public infrastructure projects."  including the Ringway road project (that would have gone through the middle of Brixton) and the initial plans for the channel tunnel rail link that would have gone through south london

More here (it's £ 5 a go, needs pre-booking)


----------



## BusLanes (Feb 16, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> seems to be some sort of masonic / weird religious fusion, but can't trace them on the interwebs...



It mentioned the Daughters of Isis






						Daughters of Isis - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


----------



## editor (Feb 20, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> came up on tweeter today -
> 
> new 'Histories in Focus' talks, first is afternoon of Sat 22 February at the South London Gallery (between Camberwell and Peckham) on "key moments of local resistance to top-down planning and ill-conceived public infrastructure projects."  including the Ringway road project (that would have gone through the middle of Brixton) and the initial plans for the channel tunnel rail link that would have gone through south london
> 
> More here (it's £ 5 a go, needs pre-booking)


This looks fascinating - if anyone is going could you do a report for Brixton Buzz?


----------



## editor (Feb 20, 2020)

This is a wonderful photo!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 20, 2020)

editor said:


> wonderful





is there a date for it?

can pin it after mid 1934, London Transport was formed in 1933, but didn't start using the name as such on the sides of buses and trams straight off.

and before the 1939 war from minor details.  

number 2 bus heading from Crystal Palace to Golders Green, 33 tram to Manor House via the Kingsway Subway, and former Thomas Tilling bus heading in the general direction of Croydon - probably on the 59 / 159


----------



## salem (Feb 21, 2020)

Just seen this thread on reddit about George Berry. Says he was the first black pub owner and licensee in London with his pub The Coach & Horses which is now the Market House and the pub was set alight in a racist attack in the 60s. A quick search and I could only find one brief reference to it on this site and not much else online in general so thought some people might be interested or be able to shed more light on the story.


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2020)

salem said:


> Just seen this thread on reddit about George Berry. Says he was the first black pub owner and licensee in London with his pub The Coach & Horses which is now the Market House and the pub was burnt down in a racist attack in the 60s. A quick search and I could only find one brief reference to it on this site and not much else online in general so thought some people might be interested or be able to shed more light on the story.
> 
> View attachment 199318


Here he is in happier times: 











						George Berry Who Has Just Become Editorial Stock Photo - Stock Image | Shutterstock
					

Find the editorial stock photo of George Berry Who Has Just Become, and more photos in the Shutterstock collection of editorial photography. 1000s of new photos added daily.




					www.shutterstock.com
				












						‘We’re not just a black pub. Everyone is welcome’: meet Britain’s BAME landlords
					

Black and Asian landlords are reinventing the British pub – from a Desi bar in Smethwick to a Caribbean boozer in Sheffield. Jimi Famurewa reports




					www.theguardian.com
				






From here - jazz – Black London Histories - cracking pics of the Atlantic/Dogstar


----------



## CH1 (Feb 21, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> this came up on twitter today -
> 
> Updated presentation on Railton Road for the Liminal London at Birkbeck on 21st Feb -still work in progress
> 
> linkage (MS Sway)


Apologies for not responding earlier. This Birkbeck document you link to is quite slick and comprehensive, containing as it does salient images from the Towson archive and other images of gay squatting and riot damage on Railton Road/Mayall Road.

Where I part company is with description of Pearls shebeen - which is taken from a Booker Prize Winning novel by Bernardine Evaristo.
Obviously it's always difficult to verify information - but when it comes from a novel with no other witnesses?

I attended Pearl's many times in 1979 - and the clientele was primarily Jamaican/other Caribbean gay men.
IDevon Thomas, who many on these boards may know, assured me that from his limited experience in Pearls most of her patrons seemed to be London Transport employees - either in uniform , or badged up.

Some people associated with the Brixton Umbrella Circle and the Black Heritage Museum in Nottingham have toyed with the idea of recreating an evening at Pearl's. But you can't imagine how difficult it is to source suitable black gay bus conductors these days.

I would have been interested in hearing what Birkbeck make of all this - but having heard Jon Newman present the Lambeth Archives spin yesterday at the Town Hall, and as I am going to a special viewing and showing of Total Eclipse - account of Verlaine and Rimbaud's poetic rough trade and aesthetic obsession in Royal College Street, King's Cross I shall have to await reports of the Birkbeck event - should they be forthcoming.

I


----------



## editor (Feb 21, 2020)

A bit about Sir Henry Tate














						Brixton History: the bronze bust to Sir Henry Tate in Windrush Square, Brixton
					

It was a very different world when the bronze bust to Sir Henry Tate was unveiled in 1905, outside what was then known as Tate Gardens (now Windrush Square) in Brixton.



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## CH1 (Feb 21, 2020)

editor said:


> A bit about Sir Henry Tate
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It always frustrates me when this is written up - because I clearly remember the bust in its original position in the centre of the space outside the library: surrounded by four bronze lions. Finally I have tracked down a reference to this on the internet








						WellnessZap.com
					






					londongardensonline.org.uk
				




This is the paragraph:
In 1937 a small area of the garden was taken for road widening and in 1965-66 the garden was redesigned at a cost of £3,000. The railings were removed and the bust re-sited on a circular brick base with 4 lions from the old gate-piers, the garden paved over and seats and flower pots provided, with a plane tree preserved as a central feature. Also sited in the garden was an old milestone formerly on the site of the Town Hall and a stone laid by Henry Irving in 1894 for Brixton Theatre, and a memorial fountain was erected.

The lions were apparently an early victim of a common problem nowadays - the theft of public sculpture. They disappeared around 1984/85,

The theft was reported in the South London Press - as was the fact that one of the lions subsequently turned up in a railway siding in Wilsden Junction,
This was the same era as when the remnants of the Electric Avenue glass canopy was taken down for refurbishment - and then nobody knew where it was, leave alone when it was being reinstated.

I would love it if someone found a picture of Sir Henry Tate's bust on its pedestal, surrounded by the lions.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 21, 2020)

CH1 said:


> Obviously it's always difficult to verify information - but when it comes from a novel with no other witnesses?



there's always something of a difficulty with sources with 'history from below' but  if they are using a novel as a source



CH1 said:


> But you can't imagine how difficult it is to source suitable black gay bus conductors these days.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Feb 21, 2020)

CH1 said:


> But you can't imagine how difficult it is to source suitable black gay bus conductors these days.


This made me laugh out loud. Thank you CH1


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 23, 2020)

the 'night ferry' train from paris to london victoria, august 1975


----------



## editor (Feb 23, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> the 'night ferry' train from paris to london victoria, august 1975



That was one ugly loco!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 24, 2020)

on teh tweeter today



 at sign...


----------



## editor (Feb 26, 2020)

Never knew Brixton had a reservoir and waterworks








						- Thames Water
					






					archive.thameswater.co.uk


----------



## Nivag (Feb 26, 2020)

editor said:


> Never knew Brixton had a reservoir and waterworks
> 
> View attachment 199874
> 
> ...


Was it on Brixton Water Lane?


----------



## editor (Feb 26, 2020)

Nivag said:


> Was it on Brixton Water Lane?


No, funnily enough. Waterworks Road (by the prison).


----------



## RoyReed (Feb 26, 2020)

editor said:


> Never knew Brixton had a reservoir and waterworks


Actually I did know this. It's marked on Stamford's Library Map of London 1862.



You can see both the 1864 and 1872 editions here: MAPCO : London and Environs Maps and Views


----------



## Jimbeau (Feb 26, 2020)

editor said:


> Never knew Brixton had a reservoir and waterworks



It’s very much still there. Mostly used as backup storage during dry spells these days. There’s a sister facility on Daysbrook Rd in Streatham Hill. More importantly, Brixton was one of the main shafts for the construction of the London Ring Main. My neighbour used to work there and could talk (admittedly interestingly) for hours about it...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Feb 26, 2020)

still clearly owned by Thames Water (Street View here)

 at building outside the gate - inscription 'WW' above the door, presume this was the office bit of the waterworks

1950s OS map shows reservoir under the sports ground


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## editor (Mar 5, 2020)

Animated scene from 1907


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## editor (Mar 9, 2020)

Any idea where this is? It says Brixton on the window !


----------



## Nivag (Mar 9, 2020)

editor said:


> Any idea where this is? It says Brixton on the window !
> 
> View attachment 201063


4 Popes Road according to this



			https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39374/page/5733/data.pdf


----------



## editor (Mar 9, 2020)

Nivag said:


> 4 Popes Road according to this
> View attachment 201065
> 
> 
> https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39374/page/5733/data.pdf


Are you sure it's the same company?  That name makes no mention of the dairy business.


----------



## Nivag (Mar 9, 2020)

editor said:


> Are you sure it's the same company?  That name makes no mention of the dairy business.


No idea, it was posting in a insomniacs boredom mode lol


----------



## RoyReed (Mar 9, 2020)

Nevill's Bakery (Nevill's Bread) was at:

Nevill H. W. Lim. wholesale bakers, 115 Milkwood Road, Herne Hill SE24 - T N 205 Brixton



Kelly's Post Office London Directory 1919 - County Suburbs

There's no mention of Avenue Hygienic Dairies, but I'm guessing that this photo is slightly later in the 1920s.


----------



## RoyReed (Mar 9, 2020)

There's an online booklet about the Milkwood Estate by the Herne Hill Society that includes an article on Nevill's Bakery (pp36-44). Lots of other interesting stuff too.


----------



## Jimbeau (Mar 9, 2020)

Looks like they were still going until 1967 - wherever they were. 
There are not many 'Avenues' that are unambiguously Brixton. Jebb, Electric, Stockwell, Kings, Josephine. None of those looks likely from the picture. Maybe I'm being too literal.
Anyone else spot that the front cart says 'Brixton SW' but the second says 'SE'? This might put them on the cusp - over Tulse Hill way.
Or maybe someone with a Findmypast.com subscription can look up the phone number. Looks like Brixton 272.
I like puzzles like this...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Mar 9, 2020)

at small horse and small hearse milk wagon

I'd say this doesn't feel like much later than the 20s - think the milk churn / can style had been largely replaced by glass bottles by then.  Also, 3 figure telephone number suggests pretty early on, but can't put a date to it.  I'm more inclined to think pre 1914.

also, the London postal districts were numbered in 1917, so 'London SW' would have become SW2 (and so on) in the years after - although businesses would have taken variable time to catch up with this.  The cart showing 'SE' might have been borrowed from another branch, either for operational reasons, or to give a better turn out for the photographer.

i've also drawn a blank on this.  can't find anything reference to 'Avenue Hygienic' or 'Avenue Dairy/ies' 1896, 1911 or 1919 directories.  There's too many 'dairymen' to try and cross check all the ones in brixton.

nothing in Popes Road that matches on any of those dates.  This from 1919.


----------



## Jimbeau (Mar 10, 2020)

I too think it’s pre WWI. The 1922 Milk and Dairies Act made pasteurisation mandatory - hence the move to glass bottles. After that, being ‘hygienic’ was less of a selling point.

The 1967 liquidation meeting also wound up Middlewich Dairies and London and City Dairies - all of which had the same registered address at 15-17 Tavistock Sq. That was the former HQ of Express Dairies and is these days the Faculty of Public Health of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

There’s a pleasing circularity to all this, but my guess is that Avenue Hygienic Dairies was one of several long defunct arms of Express Dairies by 1967. The name is likely related to elsewhere, and Brixton was one branch among many, as Puddy_Tat says.

Still don’t know where that pic was taken though. ☹️


----------



## happyshopper (Mar 10, 2020)

Must be pre-1914. Just looks like it. But also the hanging sign above the shop refers to the NTC (National Telephone Company), which was taken over by the Post Office in 1911.


----------



## editor (Mar 10, 2020)

happyshopper said:


> Must be pre-1914. Just looks like it. But also the hanging sign above the shop refers to the NTC (National Telephone Company), which was taken over by the Post Office in 1911.


Yes, but it's not uncommon for outdated signs to stay in situ years after a company has gone bust.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Mar 16, 2020)

on flickr today



there were not that many places in london where there was room for a 'loading island' like this - usually passengers had to wait on the kerb then for other traffic between the tram and the kerb to stop for them


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## editor (Mar 20, 2020)

Some Brixton history from 15 years ago






























						Brixton history – Coldharbour Lane street works, Hovis sign and Herne Hill velodrome, March 2005
					

Back in March 2005, the big news around central Brixton was the major resurfacing works along Coldharbour Lane, which saw some weird and wonderful machines shuffling about.



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Mar 22, 2020)

Brixton Hill outside Christchurch House, some time during the 1939-45 war

Inspector is handing the driver a 'single line staff' giving him authority to drive through a stretch of track reduced to one line due to bomb damage


----------



## editor (Mar 30, 2020)

It's been suggested that this is Brixton Skating Rink. Anyone know for sure?> 


It looks the part: ;





						Brixton Roller Skating Rink – memories from the late 1950s - urban75: art, photos, walks
					

For over half a century Brixton had its own roller skating rink, located on the corner of Effra Road (opposite the George Canning/Hootenanny). Opening in 1910, contemporary reports say that dance bands regularly played at the skating rink, with a William Robert Fuller (b.1889) being a well known...




					www.urban75.org


----------



## madolesance (Mar 30, 2020)

Surely the sloping angle of the building is in correct for it be located on Tulse Hill.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Mar 31, 2020)

editor said:


> It's been suggested that this is Brixton Skating Rink. Anyone know for sure?>



doesn't match picture in this article

can't place it.  catford had a skating rink (picture here) but it's not that.

catford and brixton are the only two listed in 1919 post office london suburbs directory

ETA - little bit of research suggests I was aiming too late - sounds like there was a bit of a craze for roller skating in the late edwardian era, which largely passed when cinemas started to open.  there's quite a few more skating rinks in the 1911 directory.  can't get matches on any of them.  and of course no certainty this one's actually london.  have an annoying feeling i've seen the picture before, but can't place it.


----------



## editor (Mar 31, 2020)

Coldharbour Lane 1936


----------



## editor (Apr 3, 2020)

Brixton Hill tram:


----------



## editor (Apr 3, 2020)

Funny how this looks like something out of the 1970s!

PHWOOAR!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 3, 2020)

editor said:


> Coldharbour Lane 1936





although i'd put it closer to 1926 than 1936 - tram seems to be in 1920s London County Council livery, and service 76 ended in 1931 as part of a round of service changes when the Kingsway Subway re-opened (I did have to look that bit up) - and the 'weekly dispatch' stopped in 1928.

tram is in the process of changing over to overhead wire operation having run on conduit from central london - the 'change pit' and its attendant just visible on the left (changing from conduit to overhead did not require his assistance, the conduit 'plough' came out on its own, but the attendant had to help to get it under a tram heading the other way.  possibly the conductor just visible behind the tram in the act of putting the trolley pole on the wire



editor said:


> Brixton Hill tram:





and  at  electropathic belts


----------



## editor (Apr 3, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> although i'd put it closer to 1926 than 1936 - tram seems to be in 1920s London County Council livery, and service 76 ended in 1931 as part of a round of service changes when the Kingsway Subway re-opened (I did have to look that bit up) - and the 'weekly dispatch' stopped in 1928.
> 
> tram is in the process of changing over to overhead wire operation having run on conduit from central london - the 'change pit' and its attendant just visible on the left (changing from conduit to overhead did not require his assistance, the conduit 'plough' came out on its own, but the attendant had to help to get it under a tram heading the other way.  possibly the conductor just visible behind the tram in the act of putting the trolley pole on the wire
> 
> ...


Do you mind if I use your text for a Buzz feature? You're welcome to write something yourself, of course!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 3, 2020)

editor said:


> Do you mind if I use your text for a Buzz feature? You're welcome to write something yourself, of course!


sure

theres a web page that explains the conduit / change pit thing, i'll find a link and add that sometime over the weekend


----------



## GarveyLives (Apr 13, 2020)

20 years ago:

Remember when Mike Tyson took the UK by storm, insulted a group of feminists and ended up in a Brixton police station? Twenty years ago the heavyweight king fought Julius Francis... here's the remarkable story



*Footage of Mike Tyson's Brixton Visit*​


----------



## Jimbeau (Apr 15, 2020)

So here's a thing.

Call it cabin fever or home-working procrastination, or whatever, but yesterday I spent 3 hours lost in a black hole of geekery around the origins of Brockwell Park.

Having lived around its periphery for nigh on 20 years, I thought I knew all its secrets. But when a search on the RIBA photo library for an unrelated work project threw up this survey drawing of the Brockwell Estate from the turn of the C19th, it got me going.

Designs for the layout of the Brockwell and Tulse Hill estates, Lambeth, London: plan of the Tulse Hill and Brockwell estates | RIBA

Fascinating to see the Edwards property (now Tulse Hill) and the Blades property (now Brockwell Park) still as a single landscape of lanes and fields. Raleigh House on Brixton Hill is shown too, while the old Tudor Brockwell Hall still stands on Norwood Road. Blades' new Brockwell Hall on today's hilltop site is indicated in pencil, and Edwards' two new grand avenues of Tulse Hill and Upper Tulse Hill likewise. The natural dividing line between the two halves is not Tulse Hill the road (as I'd always thought), but the stream valley that forms the back gardens of the houses that fringe the western edge of the park. This valley includes of course Cressingham Gardens and the Brockwell Gate development.

Then I saw this one from 1823:

Designs for the layout of the Brockwell and Tulse Hill estates, Lambeth, London: plan showing proposed layout | RIBA

So there was a short period when Blades and Edwards jointly engaged JB Papworth (a big-name architect of his day) to explore a speculative development across both of their estates. By this time Blades' new Brockwell Hall had been standing for about ten years and Edwards had already started to lay out Tulse Hill as the southward continuation of Effra Road, but they considered at least something much bigger. 

RIBA also have several pages of Papworth's drawings for Clarence House (the property demolished in the interwar expansion of the park, on the site now occupied by the BMX track), and for the two fine Grecian houses of 1828 called Brockwell Terrace that faced inwards to the park, and whose site is now under the Lido. The original St Jude's vicarage (not the post-war replacement that was done up on Grand Designs) was on the same alignment, so it's not too hard to imagine there was a grand scheme not unlike Nash's terraces overlooking Regent's Park, with big classical houses facing the greenery.

All this would have come to a halt when Blades died in 1829, so he had barely got started in the 20 years since the estate came under his ownership.

This got me thinking again. How much had he actually managed to change the landscape of fields and lanes that he started out with? And indeed how much was it changed again by JJ Sexby in the 1890s when Lambeth bought it for a park? And what survives today of all this?

15 mins mucking about in Photoshop later - and wow. Not only did Blades simply plonk his mansion and kitchen garden in the middle of the biggest existing field, it looks like he left all the field boundaries in situ, grubbing up the hedgerows no doubt, but the trees continued to mark their positions when the first phase of the park was opened in 1892. Sexby's work was principally the addition of the peripheral path that goes either side of the old mansion gate at Herne Hill, and a sprinkling of amenities. It took another decade for the first Brixton gate to be opened on Arlingford Road, and 30 years more for the park to reach its present size as leases expired on the remaining houses and entrances were cut through to Tulse Hill and Brixton Water Lane. That story is pretty thoroughly told in lots of places, but it does explain why the BMX track and the scruffy area behind the Lido still feel somewhat 'other' and unfinished. And the Dulwich Road gate next to the Lido and the roadway that swings behind it and up to the BMX track is the old Clarence House carriage drive.

Finally I laid a screen cap from Google Maps over the whole lot. To this very day, all the principal paths in the park and the alignments of the trees reflect the field boundaries of more than 200 years ago. Now I can never see the place the same way again. This morning I walked up the path to the Hall from Herne Hill gate  at about 7am and in the dawn light you can not only see the tree lines on the old field boundaries, but the humps where the hedges used to be too. Mind truly blown.

Here's a few of my overlays so everyone else can share the fun.


----------



## editor (Apr 23, 2020)

Barnwell Road with a tongue-twister bakery name.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 28, 2020)

on flickr today - about 1950


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 2, 2020)

on tweeter today


----------



## editor (May 3, 2020)

Nice colour pic


----------



## editor (May 3, 2020)

Not sure if it's been posted before but it's a good 'un


----------



## happyshopper (May 3, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 3, 2020)

editor said:


> Nice colour pic





also showing one of the few 'loading islands' where tram passengers could get on and off safely rather than in the middle of the road (compare and contrast with the next photo)

this was one of the official reasons for getting rid of trams in many places.  the space for more loading islands was often not there, although the political will often wasn't either.

must be somewhere between mid 1947 (that sort of bus) and 1951 (last trams in Brixton)



editor said:


> Not sure if it's been posted before but it's a good 'un



somewhere between January and April 1951 (Brixton's tram services were replaced in two phases - bus 95 was a new tram replacement route in January, the Streatham / Purley route became the 109 in April.)

Latest on number 1's restoration at Crich Tramway Village from February - 







happyshopper 



knew it was still there.  looking a bit tired. 

and would look better if they chopped the telecoms tat off the roof.

and   that they have kept the curved windows - look original.  they can be a bit of a sod to replace, some of the houses near mum-tat's place (the area was developed in the mid / late 30s) had curved glass crittall windows, think the last one has now gone after the elderly occupant died and the house has been modernised...


----------



## editor (May 3, 2020)

Dogstar 1964


----------



## editor (May 3, 2020)

More HOT TRAM ACTION!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 4, 2020)

editor said:


> More HOT TRAM ACTION!



probably also from 1951

the 'feltham' trams (as in the big red one in post 1523) and 'bluebird' (the one in 1524) got sold to Leeds and continued in service until about 1959, and started being taken away from Brixton before the end.

Both were intended to be the start of the third generation of London trams, built in the early 30s with comfier seats, better lighting, air brakes, a separate cab with seat for the driver, and interior heating (late 50's Routemasters were the first generation of London buses to have heating from new) - the Felthams were new in north / west London for the (Underground group owned) company tramways - about 100 were built, they got moved to Streatham Hill / Brixton Hill depots when those routes went trolleybus in 1937/8 - mainly because Streatham Hill depot needed less work than anywhere else to cope with bigger trams.  The LCC were a couple of years behind, and No. 1 was a prototype.

London Transport had other ideas after 1933...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 4, 2020)

on tweeter today






(collage page / larger image here - says it's 1907)

1904 / 1911 London Suburbs directories have this as 16 Hinton Road, just north of the junction of Milkwood Road.

Bit hard to place, as the street numbering had changed before the 1950 OS map

I think it's the building shown as 'ruin' on that map, which would make it about where Kingsley Point is now.

Advert in the window is for an event at the Surrey Masonic Hall, which was at 295 Camberwell New Road - more here


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 5, 2020)

another tram today



Brixton Hill / Trent Road / Corpus Christi Church, late 40s / early 50s


----------



## editor (May 6, 2020)

Any idea what this sign is for?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 6, 2020)

editor said:


> Any idea what this sign is for?
> 
> View attachment 210973



where?

first thought is that large S could (in the 1939 war) mean (air raid) Shelter, and BL could possibly be (metropolitan) borough of lambeth, but that's complete guesswork on my part and probably cobblers.

More standard air raid shelter signs were akin to







(was in Deptford - since 'restored' a bit too enthusiastically)

to some extent, this sort of sign could be designed to mean something to people who know what it means...


----------



## editor (May 6, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> where?
> 
> first thought is that large S could (in the 1939 war) mean (air raid) Shelter, and BL could possibly be (metropolitan) borough of lambeth, but that's complete guesswork on my part and probably cobblers.
> 
> ...


It was low down on the wall outside a house,  so it would be an odd place for a shelter sign but you could be right.


----------



## Johnlj123 (May 6, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> ...





There is another version of this photo which has the street sign - Hardess Street. But it doesn't tie up with the OS map for Hinton Road.





The building shape suggests the other end of Hardess St on Herne Hill Road. Which leads to the idea that the De Gerdons had two shops.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 6, 2020)

Johnlj123 said:


> There is another version of this photo which has the street sign - Hardess Street. But it doesn't tie up with the OS map for Hinton Road.





Johnlj123 said:


> The building shape suggests the other end of Hardess St on Herne Hill Road. Which leads to the idea that the De Gerdons had two shops.



I am sure you are right  about the location - that would explain why I couldn't quite place the building.

Can't offer any thoughts on Mr De Gerdon's business.  No trace in 1896 directory, and at 16 Hinton Road in 1904 and 1911 directories.  All three don't give anything at the right location on Herne Hill Road or Hardess Street (with places on a corner, you can never be quite sure which street the post office decided they were in)

Collage is not infallible (I did drop them a note about something listed as Deptford which was really Dartford - I blame transcription of a cursive r) - photo is almost certainly late 1907 / early 1908 as the advert is for a concert in April 1908.


----------



## editor (May 7, 2020)

This is splendid: A Route 33 tram turning from Effra Road on to Morval Road. The Service ceased in April 1952.


----------



## happyshopper (May 9, 2020)

editor said:


> Any idea what this sign is for?
> 
> View attachment 210973


Don’t really know but bomb shelter looks plausible. Here’s another one, in worse condition, at the end of Shakespeare Road.


----------



## RoyReed (May 9, 2020)

editor said:


> It was low down on the wall outside a house,  so it would be an odd place for a shelter sign but you could be right.


What street was this on?


----------



## RoyReed (May 9, 2020)

happyshopper said:


> Don’t really know but bomb shelter looks plausible. Here’s another one, in worse condition, at the end of Shakespeare Road.
> View attachment 211604


I can't think what else they could be, but most of the air-raid shelter signs I've seen are significantly larger and more prominent.

Westminster



Shelter by Roy Reed, on Flickr

Lewisham



Shelter by Roy Reed, on Flickr

Forest Hill



Air Raid Shelter by Roy Reed, on Flickr

Borough



D2 Shelter by Roy Reed, on Flickr


----------



## editor (May 9, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> What street was this on?


Norwood Road, not far from Brockwell Park.


----------



## happyshopper (May 9, 2020)

~1538 was on the north side of Shakespeare Road just where it joins Dulwich Road - here 3 Shakespeare Rd


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 11, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> I can't think what else they could be, but most of the air-raid shelter signs I've seen are significantly larger and more prominent.



yes. the more i think about it, the less convinced i am by the idea



happyshopper said:


> ~1538 was on the north side of Shakespeare Road just where it joins Dulwich Road - here 3 Shakespeare Rd



hmm.  looks as though there might have been a painted sign next to it at one time (or was it graffiti?)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 11, 2020)

tram of the day from flickr - a wartime view outside Pullman Court / Streatham Hill tram depot (the one that's now the 1950s building used by Arriva)


----------



## GarveyLives (May 13, 2020)

Harry Jacobs' son reminds us that Brixton continued to exist in the period after the disintegration of Britain's emprire and before the post-1980s rioting wave of gentrification:

_"Gerald Jacobs' new book is set in 1960s Brixton where he grew up ..."_

Back when Brixton had Jews


----------



## billythefish (May 13, 2020)

editor said:


> Any idea what this sign is for?
> 
> View attachment 210973


Not exactly sure, but suspect it may be a Parish Boundary marker. I've tried googling and came up with this Pinterest page, which shows many examples.








						160 Parish boundary markers ideas in 2022 | parish, markers, london sign
					

Nov 27, 2022 - Explore David Bellamy's board "Parish boundary markers" on Pinterest. See more ideas about parish, markers, london sign.




					www.pinterest.co.uk


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 13, 2020)

Past Tense has a piece on the Brixton Black Womens' Group today


----------



## RoyReed (May 15, 2020)

billythefish said:


> Not exactly sure, but suspect it may be a Parish Boundary marker. I've tried googling and came up with this Pinterest page, which shows many examples.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Possible I suppose, but none of the signs there have anything like the same style as these.

I've asked a friend who's into the history of signage to ask around to see if he can shed some light. (I've shared both 'S' sign photos with him - I hope that's OK).


----------



## RoyReed (May 15, 2020)

There's another 'S' sign on South Lambeth Road between Hagos Butcher & Grocery and The Launderette.






						The riddle of the mysterious sign - can you help?
					

Local resident Emily writes in to wonder aloud what the significance is of the old red metal sign on the wall between the launderette and A&...




					tradescant.blogspot.com
				












						Google Maps
					

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.




					www.google.co.uk


----------



## happyshopper (May 16, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> There's another 'S' sign on South Lambeth Road between Hagos Butcher & Grocery and The Launderette.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well spotted


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 16, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> There's another 'S' sign on South Lambeth Road between Hagos Butcher & Grocery and The Launderette.



another 

can't find anything on old OS maps that shows any particular feature at the three locations we've found so far.

The fact we haven't traced any outside the (old Metropolitan) Borough of Lambeth does mean I'm still thinking that's what the BL is

Boroughs had responsibility for storm drains / sewers (not sure about 'foul sewers' connected to buildings) 

But there must be / have been so many of them I wouldn't have thought it worth marking like that.

Agree with those who say it looks too recent to be a parish marker, and too recent / too low down to be a fire insurance sign


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 16, 2020)

Another 






source here

got posted by someone on tweeter Friday.

Info says it's at 4-6 Vassall Road (see lettering above first floor windows) c. 1905

But it's got (what can really only be) 202 above the door, and seems unlikely to have its full address painted on the front - more likely to be "also at 4 -6..."

Window poster appears to be advertising a pantomime at New Princes Theatre - only London theatre by that name I can trace is now the Shaftesbury (on Shaftesbury Avenue) which opened 1911.

Shop next door appears to be "... & OUTFI"  (must be ... & outfitters")

Can find Pittmans at 4 - 6 Vassall Road in 1911 London Suburbs directory (the place was shown as dining rooms in directories either side of that, but not Pittmans), but no other places in that name, so they can't have been in business long.  Can find one or two other dining rooms at an address that's 202 but nothing that fits.

Doesn't even have to be in / around Lambeth - possibly slightly unusual to advertise a west end theatre out in the suburbs (although there could have been a personal connection somewhere)


----------



## RoyReed (May 16, 2020)

There is another Brixton Dining Room listed in the Post Office London County Suburbs Directory (1919) that's at a number 202 Coldharbour Lane
.
Dining Rooms


Coldharbour Lane


And in the 1914 directory

Coldharbour Lane


Might just be a coincidence.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 16, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> There is another Brixton Dining Room listed in the Post Office London County Suburbs Directory (1919) that's at a number 202 Coldharbour Lane



yes, i did find that as a possible candidate, but it was at the end of a row


----------



## RoyReed (May 16, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> yes, i did find that as a possible candidate, but it was at the end of a row
> 
> View attachment 212877


Good point.


----------



## CH1 (May 20, 2020)

I wondered about 202 Camberwell New Road - but that looks impossible from Google street-view.  Its residential, Victorian - and is on the corner of Lothian Road, not Vasall Road.
Regarding the Loughborough Junction site - 202 Coldhabour Lane, this had a thread of its own once upon a time, and did not have that style of shop on it. The redevelopment of Loughborough House, Loughborough Junction


----------



## editor (May 20, 2020)

Finally posted Puddy_Tat 's excellent piece!









						Brixton history: London County Council tram 1551 at the Coldharbour Lane change pit, 1920s
					

Here’s an interesting archive photo of a London County Council tram at the Camberwell end of Coldharbour Lane change, photographed in the mid/late 1920s.



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## RoyReed (May 20, 2020)

editor said:


> Any idea what this sign is for?
> 
> View attachment 210973


Looks like it's a marker for the Effra Sewer - following quite a bit of discussion on Twitter.


----------



## editor (May 20, 2020)

Great piece here:














						Loughborough Hotel and Tavern
					

Loughborough Hotel December 2019. Flats, San Mei Gallery and Annapurna Cafe. This majestic building, the Loughborough Hotel at the junction of Loughborough Road and Evandale Road SW9, has a 120 yea…




					loughboroughroadsw9histories.wordpress.com


----------



## editor (May 22, 2020)

Coming up Lambeth Archives to host four local history online talks in June as part of their Local History In Lockdown series


----------



## editor (May 25, 2020)

Another history feature: 




















						Brixton history: Tram tracks and Brixton Police Station, Brixton Road, 1907
					

Following our recent article on Brixton’s tram history, we thought we’d share this striking archive photo from the London Metropolitan Archives showing work on the tram tracks in Brixto…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 25, 2020)

on teh tweeter today


----------



## editor (May 27, 2020)

At the Empress!


----------



## Rocky Sullivan (May 27, 2020)

What a night that must have been - and all hosted by Keith Fordyce! If you've never heard of him he was one of those "chaps" the BBC employed post-war (think Pete Murray, David Jacobs etc.). I recall that Keith would usually sport a smart tweed jacket.


----------



## editor (May 28, 2020)

I can;t work out where this is in Effra Road:


----------



## BCBlues (May 28, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today
> 
> 
> 
> there were not that many places in london where there was room for a 'loading island' like this - usually passengers had to wait on the kerb then for other traffic between the tram and the kerb to stop for them




I like this one. What's the shop named that is now Macd's?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 29, 2020)

BCBlues said:


> I like this one. What's the shop named that is now Macd's?



the times furnishing company.

as in this picture







don't think they had a direct connection with the newspaper...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 29, 2020)

editor said:


> I can;t work out where this is in Effra Road:



isn't it outside the 'george canning'?

the statue and fire alarm point are visible (albeit from a different angle) on this here brixton historical resource

1896 OS map with fire alarm marked


----------



## editor (May 29, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> isn't it outside the 'george canning'?
> 
> the statue and fire alarm point are visible (albeit from a different angle) on this here brixton historical resource
> 
> 1896 OS map with fire alarm marked


Yeah, you're absolutely right of course!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 29, 2020)

is it recorded what happened to the statue of dodgy-knees?


----------



## editor (May 29, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> is it recorded what happened to the statue of dodgy-knees?


There's a history challenge right there!


----------



## editor (May 29, 2020)

More history:














						Brixton history: Chocolate, wine and beer on Railton Road, SE24 in 1956
					

This 64-year old photograph taken on the corner of Milton Road and Railton Road on the Brixton/Herne Hill borders offers an interesting glimpse into the past, with four large billboard posters adve…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## Favelado (May 29, 2020)

editor said:


> View attachment 214902
> 
> At the Empress!


Granada and Brixton together! My heart sings!


----------



## Favelado (May 29, 2020)

Well, as someone who genuinely wants independence for the Granada TV region (Granada were going to issue Northern passports to their staff in the early days - true story) but also loves Brixton - it's a thrill to see the two things on one poster.


----------



## Rocky Sullivan (May 29, 2020)

Favelado said:


> Well, as someone who genuinely wants independence for the Granada TV region (Granada were going to issue Northern passports to their staff in the early days - true story) but also loves Brixton - it's a thrill to see the two things on one poster.


Always referred to as "Granadaland" back in the day.


----------



## editor (May 29, 2020)

A cracking day out!

In photos: Jayday 2002, a pro-cannabis free festival in Brockwell Park, south London, 4th May 2002


----------



## Rocky Sullivan (May 29, 2020)

editor said:


> More history:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Although we think of advertising permeating all aspects of our 21st century lives it seemed no different in the last century. As well as the Railton Road image look at this one from the 1930s, corner of Shakespeare and Mayall Road: https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/mayall-road-herne-hill-2/  I wouldn't be happy with all of that on the end of my house.


----------



## Favelado (May 29, 2020)

Rocky Sullivan said:


> Always referred to as "Granadaland" back in the day.



I'd just like to wish a  very fond farewell to all of our viewers out there in Granadaland, and we'll be back tomorrow.

The best night-time sign off of any station.


----------



## editor (May 29, 2020)

1951:


----------



## editor (May 30, 2020)

Love this pic outside the old George IV.  I was going to write a piece for Buzz but thought I'd better give Puddy_Tat  first dibs on writing the text!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 30, 2020)

editor said:


> Love this pic outside the old George IV. I was going to write a piece for Buzz but thought I'd better give @Puddy_Tat first dibs on writing the text!





i'll see what i can do.


----------



## happyshopper (May 31, 2020)

editor said:


> View attachment 215440
> 
> Love this pic outside the old George IV.  I was going to write a piece for Buzz but thought I'd better give Puddy_Tat  first dibs on writing the text!


“Streatham Village”


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 31, 2020)

happyshopper said:


> “Streatham Village”



bloody hipsters


----------



## madolesance (May 31, 2020)

editor said:


> View attachment 215440
> 
> Love this pic outside the old George IV.  I was going to write a piece for Buzz but thought I'd better give Puddy_Tat  first dibs on writing the text!


Would be interesting to know who the passengers are. Looks very much like a promo shot.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 31, 2020)

today's tram action on Flickr - corner of Poplar (Walk) Road / Lowden Road - some time late 40s / early 50s.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 31, 2020)

madolesance said:


> Would be interesting to know who the passengers are. Looks very much like a promo shot.



possibly.  haven't done much digging yet.

clearly the tram has stopped for the photographer.

don't think there was a hard and fast rule, but possibly slightly unusual for more respectable ladies / gentlemen with top hat to be riding on the top deck of a tram in that era.

did you get any other info with the photo, editor ?  must be later in the life of the cable tramway, as it's carrying LCC (London County Council) lettering not London Tramways Company.  

Pure speculation on my part, but possibly a final jaunt before the line closed for electrification?


----------



## editor (May 31, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> possibly.  haven't done much digging yet.
> 
> clearly the tram has stopped for the photographer.
> 
> ...


All I've got is "Photocard of Cable Tram outside the George IV Public House, Brixton Hill, 1905, *"*


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 31, 2020)

editor said:


> All I've got is "Photocard of Cable Tram outside the George IV Public House, Brixton Hill, 1905, *"*





it's on record that the cable trams finished operating in 1904 - maybe the postcard was posted in 1905?  

pity that both the posters on the board headed ...MAY aren't readable.  likewise under the 'EMPRESS BRIXTON', there's "XXXX, Manager" which might help pin the date down.


----------



## happyshopper (Jun 1, 2020)

But it’s not a cable tram. Is it?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 1, 2020)

happyshopper said:


> But it’s not a cable tram. Is it?



yes

in the early years, the brixton cable trams had a tractor / dummy / gripper car that pulled the passenger car (it took over from horses or vice versa at kennington) like so 







but after a few years they realised they didn't need a separate bit of kit that would take up depot space, and attached cable-gripping kit to the trailers.  i haven't quite got a grip (if you'll pardon the expression) of the technical angle of this yet though


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 2, 2020)

Kent Rail has added some 1976 photos of Brixton Station












more here


----------



## editor (Jun 2, 2020)

Mr Harris the chimney cleaner:


----------



## Johnlj123 (Jun 2, 2020)

Interesting. There is an Edward Harris, chimney sweep listed at 4a Station Avenue in 1920 but nothing either side. And George May was a rag dealer / marine store owner from 1907 to 1920 in Lewis Road now known as Padfield Road.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 2, 2020)

1911 Post Office London Suburbs Directory lists 

Harris William, chimney sweeper, 5 Sussex road, Brixton SW

Sussex Road isn't there any more

1951 OS map here

I make it about (as close as Street View will take me) here


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 2, 2020)




----------



## editor (Jun 2, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


>



I'm amazed that horse drawn mail coaches will still happening in 1905, to be honest!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 3, 2020)

editor said:


> I'm amazed that horse drawn mail coaches will still happening in 1905, to be honest!



yes - looks like it was not quite the traditional 'mail coach' - some stuff on the postal museum website says the last London mail coach ran in 1846 on the route to Norwich

Sounds like these 'parcel coaches' started up in 1887 due to high cost of sending stuff by rail, and travelled with an armed guard (possibly high value parcels?)

Some horse drawn vans were still used by the post office in London until the late 40s (blog post here)


----------



## Johnlj123 (Jun 3, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> 1911 Post Office London Suburbs Directory lists
> 
> Harris William, chimney sweeper, 5 Sussex road, Brixton SW
> 
> ...


----------



## Johnlj123 (Jun 3, 2020)

I looked at no 5 Sussex Road , I have William Harris , chimney sweep there from 1910-11 to 1918. I haven't recorded 1919-1921 but in 1922 no 5 is occupied by William Bidwell.
However he is also listed at no 7 Sussex road from 1880 as a chimney sweep through to 1901 and from 1902  as a marine store dealer, with Mrs Kate Waller at the same address  as a wardrobe dealer until  1907-1908


----------



## editor (Jun 7, 2020)

Not a bad bill!


----------



## editor (Jun 10, 2020)

Photo from 1946 showing Guinness Trust housing and Herne Hill station in the distance, with Railton Road to the right.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 10, 2020)

Coldharbour Lane, junction of Shakespeare Road, late 1940s


----------



## editor (Jun 11, 2020)

Oval


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 11, 2020)

editor said:


> Oval



I've seen this photo before - says it was taken on a Derby Day in the 1880s, hence the rush towards Epsom and the 'sandwich men' at the roadside.

Horse tram is from the London Tramways Company - St George's Church (opposite Borough Station) was as close as they got to London Bridge, and some of their routes were V shaped, the 'Lord Wellington' shown as the terminus was on Old Kent Road near where Asda is now.

(BTW, haven't forgotten about writing something about the cable tram, it's not been a great couple of weeks)


----------



## happyshopper (Jun 14, 2020)

editor said:


> Oval



I’m sorry to report that it’s a different pillar box.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 17, 2020)




----------



## teuchter (Jun 18, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Johnlj123 said:


> There is another version of this photo which has the street sign - Hardess Street. But it doesn't tie up with the OS map for Hinton Road.
> 
> View attachment 211094
> 
> ...



The label on the photo is wrong: the location is the corner of Hardess St and Herne Hill Road.


----------



## editor (Jun 19, 2020)

Great stuff!














						I Colourised These Photos Of Black People In Britain To Celebrate Our Shared History
					

As a White Englishman, I have power and privilege simply due to the colour of my skin, and I won't pretend to know what it must be like growing up in a world of institutional racism.




					www.boredpanda.com


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 21, 2020)

on tweeter today






426 coldharbour lane.

current street view


----------



## editor (Jun 21, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I did a feature about that some time ago 






						Brixton history - J Young Eel and Pie restaurant, 426 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9 8LF, now Gyozo Chinese and Japanese restaurant, Lambeth, London
					

Brixton history - J Young Eel and Pie restaurant, 426 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9, now Gyozo Chinese and Japanese restaurant, Lambeth, London



					www.urban75.org


----------



## editor (Jun 30, 2020)

Coldharbour Lane history 














						Brixton history: Printers and birdseed at the Coldharbour Works on Shakespeare Road, Brixton
					

This large building on the corner of Coldharbour Lane and Shakespeare Road in Brixton has changed little in over half a century, although the Bird Seed Specialists who once traded there have long s…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## CH1 (Jun 30, 2020)

A couple of contributors on the contested Memories of Brixton and Stockwell Facebook page mentioned working in the Hayes Laundry at 129 Coldharbour Lane on leaving school etc.

I was of course familiar with the Walton Lodge Laundry up the Brixton end of Coldhabour Lane, but there was indeed another laundry on the site which now belongs to Kings College Hospital - and before that was a "trading estate" occupied by Lambeth Council.

Hayes Laundry appear to have notified there customers their stuff was ready with this elegant postcard

The site has totally changed - the Rayne Institute was also build adjacent. This is a Lambeth copyright photo


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## editor (Jul 7, 2020)

Busy road scene


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 7, 2020)

editor said:


> Busy road scene



probably about 1908 - trams on the Brixton patch got trolley poles in 1909 when the line was extended from Streatham to Norbury but on overhead wire electrification.  

There was a very short gap at Norbury between the London County Council's line from the north and the Croydon Corporation tram terminus - the lines didn't get joined up until the mid 1920s.


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## editor (Jul 13, 2020)

Line up in 1983


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## editor (Jul 13, 2020)

And by coincidence this appeared in my feed from a month before. I think I might have been at this show. Possibly.


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## Smick (Jul 13, 2020)

Some massive names there.


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## editor (Jul 16, 2020)

Here;s two well knackered photos reportedly from 1924 of Effra Parade


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## editor (Jul 20, 2020)

I want to do one of my history pieces on this view of Brixton Hill but can't find any street numbers - or the address of Walter bacon - to match the current site. 

Based on the slight curve of the road downwards, my by best guess is that it's New Park Road to the left (Tuson's Corner) - can anyone confirm?


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## RoyReed (Jul 20, 2020)

editor said:


> View attachment 222929
> 
> I want to do one of my history pieces on this view of Brixton Hill but can't find any street numbers - or the address of Walter bacon - to match the current site.
> 
> Based on the slight curve of the road downwards, my by best guess is that it's New Park Road to the left (Tuson's Corner) - can anyone confirm?


I'm pretty sure that's the corner with Morrish Road.


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## RoyReed (Jul 20, 2020)

Yes, it was 284 Brixton Hill.

,

Post Office London County Suburbs Directory, 1904


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## RoyReed (Jul 20, 2020)

Here's the rest of the shops between Mill Lane (as Morrish Road was called then) and Streatham Place.



And the ones on the far side of the junction.


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## editor (Jul 20, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> I'm pretty sure that's the corner with Morrish Road.


You're right as the pattern on the top of the houses to the left match up. Annoyingly there doesn't seem to to be a comparable view available on Google Maps because some business has decided they need to be all blurred out, FFS.



Anyone live nearby that can take a quick pic?


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## RoyReed (Jul 20, 2020)

I used to live in Morrish Road, but that was over 15 years ago now.


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## RoyReed (Jul 21, 2020)

Sometimes it's worth looking at bing.com/maps instead of Google.


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## RoyReed (Jul 21, 2020)

284 had stopped being W Bacon by 1908, but was still listed as a Stationers in 1914 and a Bookseller by 1919.


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## nick (Jul 22, 2020)

Agree it is not New Park Road corner - the angle is wrong as it would be sharper if New Park Road.

If it is Morrish (which I agree it probably is, then I guess Holmewood Road must be slightly obscured by the carriage on the right.

Is there a date for the Photo? There is no new Park Court - but that was only built in the 20's.

PS - "Tuson's corner" confused me. A google suggests that it is pretty much only referred to as that on Urban and a bit by the Brixton Society (as recognised by Editor in their 2007 article)


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## nick (Jul 22, 2020)

Apologies - the above was written without realising we were now on page 55 - so my useful contribution was 2 days too late


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## nick (Jul 22, 2020)

Anyway - here are adverts for New Park court, if you haven't already done them, since you're focusing on the top of the hill - (from 1935 and 1939 (Lambeth Archives))


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## teuchter (Jul 22, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> Yes, it was 284 Brixton Hill.
> 
> View attachment 223016,
> 
> Post Office London County Suburbs Directory, 1904


Can you tell me where you access these directories and how you search them?


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## Jimbeau (Jul 22, 2020)

nick said:


> PS - "Tuson's corner" confused me. A google suggests that it is pretty much only referred to as that on Urban and a bit by the Brixton Society (as recognised by Editor in their 2007 article)


There is still a faded sign saying Tuson's Corner on the first floor of the building at the angle with New Park Road. Or at least there was a couple of years ago. I recall noticing it when walking on Rush Common. 

That whole section up as far as Brixton Hill Place is really interesting, but you need to step across the road to see it properly. A whole mix of buildings including what were once some rather fine Georgian houses. You can see how the original alignment was further back and the building line is quite ragged in parts. It reminds me a little of the northern bit of Clapham Common/Old Town around the church.


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## RoyReed (Jul 22, 2020)

teuchter said:


> Can you tell me where you access these directories and how you search them?


Here's the link:





						CONTENTdm
					






					specialcollections.le.ac.uk
				



There's a search box at the top of the page, but it usually helps to limit the search geographically by clicking on one of the local county links first. You might also find the advanced search more useful, depending what you're after.

The search results are PDF files with an image of the page, but with invisible live text superimposed over the top which can be cut and pasted.

Currently they don't have anything after 1919.


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## teuchter (Jul 22, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> Here's the link:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks. I'd looked at that previously but then been a bit confused by how the search works. If I search for a particular word or name, it seems to give me a list of pages, but then the word is not highlighted within those pages. So I guess I just need to then find the relevant word within that page manually?


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## RoyReed (Jul 22, 2020)

teuchter said:


> Thanks. I'd looked at that previously but then been a bit confused by how the search works. If I search for a particular word or name, it seems to give me a list of pages, but then the word is not highlighted within those pages. So I guess I just need to then find the relevant word within that page manually?


In the right-hand column above the thumbnail images it says 'Show all' or 'Filtered'. Click 'Filtered', then the only pages that show will be ones that contain the search results. Then in the full page image the search word should be highlighted in yellow. Should be the default IMHO, but it isn't.


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## teuchter (Jul 22, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> In the right-hand column above the thumbnail images it says 'Show all' or 'Filtered'. Click 'Filtered', then the only pages that show will be ones that contain the search results. Then in the full page image the search word should be highlighted in yellow. Should be the default IMHO, but it isn't.


Hm, for me even if I click filtered, it doesn't highlight in the text. Also very slow to load pages. Maybe it's to do with my browser.


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## RoyReed (Jul 22, 2020)

teuchter said:


> Hm, for me even if I click filtered, it doesn't highlight in the text. Also very slow to load pages. Maybe it's to do with my browser.


Even if you click on the full page/full screen icon at the top-right of the page?


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 22, 2020)

you can download the whole document as a PDF (although it's fairly hefty at 75 - 100 MB each so depends on your connection / internet deal) - this can make searching a bit easier (although acrobat reader still takes some time to get through that many pages)

this is the page for London directories.

I'm assuming the pre 1919 thing is copyright reasons.

Brixton is usually in the 'London Suburbs' rather than 'London' one, although they moved the boundary occasionally.  (and at a tangent to this thread, it's worth bearing in mind that a fair chunk of what's now administratively London wasn't then)

One other alert that may be of use - my local library (others may have done similar) has made the full version of ancestry.co.uk available from home (with a library login) - this includes BT's phone book archive from about year dot to the 1980s, so can also be useful in trying to locate (for example) particular shops in old photos.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 22, 2020)

slightly tenuous (although the tram might have come up the line from brixton) this appeared on flickr today



the elephant - early 1900s


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## editor (Jul 24, 2020)

Never knew that that the old Brixton Archives building was once a Barclays bank!


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## Metroman (Jul 24, 2020)

Ah, I remember this as a bank when I was a kid but couldn't remember it was a Barclays! I think this must have been around 72, can someone confirm?


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## CH1 (Jul 24, 2020)

editor said:


> Never knew that that the old Brixton Archives building was once a Barclays bank!
> 
> View attachment 223435


I think it was a Martins Bank originally.
Then merger and rationalisation.
Kelly's?


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## Puddy_Tat (Jul 24, 2020)

editor said:


> Never knew that that the old Brixton Archives building was once a Barclays bank!





Metroman said:


> Ah, I remember this as a bank when I was a kid but couldn't remember it was a Barclays! I think this must have been around 72, can someone confirm?





CH1 said:


> I think it was a Martins Bank originally.



Martins Bank - Wikipedia says Martins Bank acquired by Barclays in 1969

378 Coldharbour Lane is in the 1960 and 1973 phone book as Barclays

1919 post office directory (the most recent that's public domain) has Freke & Co. chemists at this address 

Not marked as a bank on 1950 OS map, and not listed as Barclays in 1950 phone book.


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## Johnlj123 (Jul 25, 2020)

Post Office Directories show Freke & Co, chemists at 378 Coldharbour Lane until 1960, Sometime during that year Barclay's Bank moved in. They stayed until 1977 then it was empty for a few years. In 1985 it is shown as Sabarr Books.


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## editor (Aug 4, 2020)

15 years ago in Brixton 



























						Brixton in August 2005: Street photos, the unhappy policeman, Dogstar, Prince Albert and Medussa Club
					

The latest trawl through our extensive Brixton photographic archives has produced a selection of images from fifteen years ago, when James Blunt, McFly and Oasis took turns at #1 in the pop charts.…



					bit.ly


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## editor (Aug 4, 2020)

Update on a lost boozer Remembering the lost King of Sardinia pub in Somers Road, between Brixton and Streatham


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## editor (Aug 6, 2020)

Her Maj in the hood in 1977


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 9, 2020)

on flickr today



knackered trams from Bexley / Erith awaiting scrapping in Brixton Hill depot (the one that's still there with 'LCC Tramways' above the door) c. 1933 after London Transport took over London's bus and tram operators.


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 9, 2020)

ITV arts / documentary 'Aquarius' did a special on british reggae, 1976 - came up in a tweeter conversation recently.



features notting hill, brixton, stoke newington


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## editor (Aug 19, 2020)

Love this


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 19, 2020)

i don't generally bother with radio 4, but have picked up that they did an interview with linton kwesi johnson on monday.

haven't got the energy for it this evening, but think he may count as a notable brixton resident


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## editor (Aug 19, 2020)

Great slice of Brixton here


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 19, 2020)

editor said:


> Love this





did you see the bit about post-war dog kennel hill trams in model form?







(don't think he's exhibiting that one at the moment)


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## CH1 (Aug 27, 2020)

Apologies if someone posted this previously. My brother (a pirate radio obsessive) pointed it out.
BBC Four - The Last Pirates: Britain's Rebel DJs
This is an account of pirate radio in South London - mainly between 1980 and 1987.
The Thatcher government offered the pirates an amnesty in 1987 - promising licences if they came off air.
Inevitably this was reneged on - and we got Jazz FM. instead.
There was a second round of this in 1989, and the DJs/promoters of Kiss FM decided to come off air and were given a licence - but then found commercial pressures pushing themto the centre ground away from their black music genres.
The BBC link above expires on 30th August, but someone seems to have upped the same thing permanently here. 

There are a lot of south London street scenes - Brixton (mainly non-riot)
People interviewed include Trevor Nelson and Jazzy B and lots of people prominent in the black music pirate radio world who I can't name.

Interested to see vinyl singles still in vogue at Kiss FM post legalisation in 1990.


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 31, 2020)

a woolworths blog - brixton woolies through the ages






new building, 1936


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## editor (Sep 1, 2020)

Marks & Sparks 



















						Brixton history: the faded Art Deco elegance of Marks & Spencer, Brixton Road
					

Although in desperate need of some attention, the Marks & Spencer building in Brixton Road remains one of the few examples of Art Deco architecture in central Brixton. Completed in 1931, the bu…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## jezg (Sep 2, 2020)

A recent interview with Magda Borowiecka, Lead Architect of the Barrier Block:








						The Accidental Brutalist: Magda Borowiecka
					

s part of our series, Characters of Coldharbour Lane, raising a glass to the people and places along Coldharbour Lane, Barrier Block architect, Magda Borowiecka spoke to us about her extraordinary life and career, and the only thing she likes about her best-known building.  Anyone who’s ever...




					www.brixtonbrewery.com


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## Ol Nick (Sep 2, 2020)

jezg said:


> A recent interview with Magda Borowiecka, Lead Architect of the Barrier Block:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's brilliant


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## editor (Sep 2, 2020)

jezg said:


> A recent interview with Magda Borowiecka, Lead Architect of the Barrier Block:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Interesting article - I'm half way writing a piece about her too because I'm fed up with people telling me that she killed herself or that the the block was built 'the wrong way around.' 

Could have used a few less plugs for your own beer though.


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## jezg (Sep 2, 2020)

editor said:


> Interesting article - I'm half way writing a piece about her too because I'm fed up with people telling me that she killed herself or that the the block was built 'the wrong way around.'
> 
> Could have used a few less plugs for your own beer though.


Nice, I have some scans of documents(some we used) from her son I can share for your article if of interest. He might have others too.


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## editor (Sep 7, 2020)

Shame about the watermark but this is a great angle

**


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## nick (Sep 7, 2020)

Shame that websters finally went only a few years ago


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## editor (Sep 7, 2020)

nick said:


> Shame that websters finally went only a few years ago









						Websters shoe shop closes after 140 years of service to Brixton - urban75: art, photos, walks
					

I was saddened to find out about that Websters, one of the last family-run businesses in central Brixton, has closed for good. The shoe shop had served Brixton for over 140 years - it's been here since 1850 - but with Mr Webster retiring and none of his family inclined to take over, the business




					www.urban75.org


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 9, 2020)

early 1950s


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## editor (Sep 14, 2020)

St Jude Church (NOT  housing - see below) on Dulwich Road






						GENUKI: St Jude, East Brixton, Church of England, Surrey
					

St Jude, East Brixton, Church of England Surrey genealogy




					www.genuki.org.uk


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## CH1 (Sep 14, 2020)

editor said:


> View attachment 230354
> 
> St Jude Churhc (now housing) on Dulwich Road
> 
> ...


No its not. It is an office for some sort of architecture firm.
A couple of years ago one of their employees, who is also a leading light in Frienbds of Brockwell Park gave an illustrated talk about the building and the history of the parish in Brockwell Hall as parft of the Lambeth Heritage Festival.

St Jude's - a Victorian church repurposed
see page eleven https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/heritageleaflet2018.pdf

The picture you have posted is splendd - but the new owner has inserted a mezzanine floor so such a view is now a thing of the past.

At the expense of boring you to death I knew Rev Dennis Peterson the last vicar to use that church building.
He had a flamboyant story telling manner, a great asset in electriying his sermons.

He told me he succeeded in  getting the parish years before as he was the only candidate willing to wear a stoll whilst preaching the sermon.
It seems the benefactor who had the right to appoint the incumbent at St Judes was high church.
Rev Dennis said, after he settled into the job he became a Christian. So basically when the old church building needed to close or have massively expensive repairs he was happy to move the congregation to the gym of St Judes School - tambourines included. I guess he thought by that point that church  buildings hindered the true faith.


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## editor (Sep 14, 2020)

CH1 said:


> No its not. It is an office for some sort of architecture firm.


What, all of it? Blimey. There's always loads of cars outside so I thought it must be residential.

They must almost be as big as Squire & Partners!

Edit to add: these are the people. Not architecture though. And they've just bought Farmers Weekly. 
Home

Not quite sure what it is they do, mind....


> *The Mark Allen Group* is a dynamic media company which delivers high-quality content through market-leading journals, magazines, books, events, exhibitions and websites. Our brands offer unrivalled access to specialists in healthcare, education, business and consumer markets.
> 
> Connecting specialist audiences with critical information
> 
> We inform. We educate. We inspire. We engage. We know our markets. We enable your business.


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## editor (Sep 15, 2020)

From FB


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## editor (Sep 16, 2020)

A rather odd publicity stunt!









						America's Fastest Shoppers Hit Brixton For A Tesco Supermarket Sweep (1966) - Flashbak
					

America's Fastest Shoppers Hit Brixton For A Tesco Supermarket Sweep (1966)




					flashbak.com


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## friendofdorothy (Sep 16, 2020)

CH1 said:


> No its not. It is an office for some sort of architecture firm.


There is definitely a publishing company based there (as well maybe?) friend of mine worked there a couple of years back


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## CH1 (Sep 16, 2020)

friendofdorothy said:


> There is definitely a publishing company based there (as well maybe?) friend of mine worked there a couple of years back


Publishing/PR Maybe editor's link gives the clue.
Meanwhile I forget to go on about Budget Furniture - an office furniture business which seems to have been there between the closure of St Judes as a church building and what it is now. I was hoping to post up a photo, but nothing on Google. I think Budget Furniture may have stopped trading around 2000 - replaced by the firm there now.


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## friendofdorothy (Sep 18, 2020)

CH1 said:


> Publishing/PR Maybe editor's link gives the clue.
> Meanwhile I forget to go on about Budget Furniture - an office furniture business which seems to have been there between the closure of St Judes as a church building and what it is now. I was hoping to post up a photo, but nothing on Google. I think Budget Furniture may have stopped trading around 2000 - replaced by the firm there now.


I went shopping at that furniture shop last century. Was it office furniture? I can't remember now


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## CH1 (Sep 18, 2020)

friendofdorothy said:


> I went shopping at that furniture shop last century. Was it office furniture? I can't remember now


Yes - it was what would now be called a recycling operation. They bought desks etc from firms closing down, moving, or selling surplus stock, fixed it up if necessary, and sold & delivered to local buyers.


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## CH1 (Sep 18, 2020)

editor said:


> Great slice of Brixton here



This film was pretty ghastly in my opinion, but my last memory or raves etc was the Old Cooltan in Effra Road in the mid 1980s.

A lot of the rave scenes were shot in St John's Angell Town - and the vicar probably regretted it.
That was the one BEFORE Rosemarie Mallet. I woldn't think Rosemarie Mallet or the new vicar recently installed would have been keen to offer their church and vicarage as a set for this film - but you never know.


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## technical (Sep 18, 2020)

South West 9 was an epically bad film


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## editor (Sep 20, 2020)

Stationmaster at East Brixton station 



From eBay: "
his is a photo of George Crittenden who was Station Master at the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway station at East Brixton

Prior to this he was Station Master at Withyham in East Sussex from 1901 

On the 1911 census he is showing as living at 51 Barrington Road Brixton which was right near the Railway Station which has been closed since 1976"


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 21, 2020)

editor said:


> On the 1911 census he is showing as living at 51 Barrington Road Brixton which was right near the Railway Station which has been closed since 1976"



out of curiosity to see if there's a station master's house standing...

I make it 59 not 51



which is the house next door to the station (the railways often provided a house for station master - also worked to their advantage in that he was close to hand if the shit hit the fan when he was in theory off duty)






house looks tired in 1972 (from disused stations website) - gate might be in southern region green, but may be coincidence.

No mention on disused stations of a station master's house, and i don't have a history of the LBSCR, or a map showing what was there before the railway came along, but it seems the house went with the job.

1896 and 1904 london suburbs directory has Mr Walter Guildford in residence



By 1919, Mr Crittenden had moved on, and Henry Richard Holdaway had the job and house.



Raises the question of whether the railway built the house, or bought / leased it when the station opened.


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## CH1 (Sep 21, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> out of curiosity to see if there's a station master's house standing...
> 
> I make it 59 not 51
> 
> ...


Great picture. The current situation is that it has been given some attention by the current owners.
New railings - a (presumably) council tree in front, but house or flat owners have planted shrubs between 59 & 61.
At some point maybe 20 or more years ago this building was made into two flats.

Your question regarding ownership of the house:

Seemingly the land between the railway and Coldharbour Lane was bought by the railway company to build the tracks.
I live about half-way down the terrace between here and the Control Tower. That strip of land was evidently sold off and developed after the railway was finished .

Clearly the houses were not all built in one go. 1-16 Victoria Terrace (ie 320-290 Coldharbour Lane) were built first in the late 1860s.  Looks like 284 & 286 came after 320-290 - for some reason 288 is a later infill. Perhaps the Mansion blocks were early 1890s.

In 1986 my deeds make reference to the London Brighton and South Coast Railway as being one of the parties who sold the land - by a deed of covenant on 27th September 1867.

I went on a guided walk by Alan Piper a few years back dealing with East Brixton and social housing. I'm sure he said that he tought the house at 59 Barrington Road must have originaly been half of a pair, the left hand one having been demolished to build the railway. Difficult to be sure - but this looks plausible to me from the rather abruptly truncated and unsymetrical LH edge.

It follows from the above that 59 Barrington Road must have already belonged to the South Coast Railway when they offered it as accomodation to their station master.

I took the picture below this afternoon.


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 21, 2020)

CH1 said:


> I'm sure he said that he tought the house at 59 Barrington Road must have originaly been half of a pair, the left hand one having been demolished to build the railway. Difficult to be sure - but this looks plausible to me from the rather abruptly truncated and unsymetrical LH edge.



certainly does look like that.

i've found a few more maps, but can't find anything between there being nothing there and the railway and house as they are now...


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## teuchter (Sep 21, 2020)

This is the map you want - it shows things after the first railway line is built but prior to the second (southernmost) viaduct being built.



			http://www.mappalondon.com/london/south-east/herne-hill.jpg
		




I'm never quite sure how literally to take these maps - were there actually 4 houses between the railway line and coldharbour lane or does it just mean "a few"?

It does however suggest that there were houses there before that second viaduct (the one with east brixton station on it) was built, and some of these would have been demolished in order to build the second one. So the idea that that house is a survivor from a part demolished pair seems plausible.


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## Pickman's model (Sep 21, 2020)

teuchter said:


> This is the map you want - it shows things after the first railway line is built but prior to the second (southernmost) viaduct being built.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Compare it to a tithe map, there should be one from the 1840s somewhere


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## editor (Sep 21, 2020)

CH1 said:


> I went on a guided walk by Alan Piper a few years back dealing with East Brixton and social housing. I'm sure he said that he tought the house at 59 Barrington Road must have originaly been half of a pair, the left hand one having been demolished to build the railway.


That's what I always heard too.


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## teuchter (Sep 21, 2020)

Pickman's model said:


> Compare it to a tithe map, there should be one from the 1840s somewhere


Are these the ones I have to sign up to a paid genealogy site to see... or is there some other way to get hold of them?


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 22, 2020)

teuchter said:


> I'm never quite sure how literally to take these maps - were there actually 4 houses between the railway line and coldharbour lane or does it just mean "a few"?



That sort of map, I'm more inclined to take it as 'here be detached / semi detached houses' rather than 'here be a terrace' (which in this case is more closely packed semis) like further up.



teuchter said:


> It does however suggest that there were houses there before that second viaduct (the one with east brixton station on it) was built, and some of these would have been demolished in order to build the second one. So the idea that that house is a survivor from a part demolished pair seems plausible.



there's a brief reference in the history of the London Chatham and Dover railway (the tangle of lines round Brixton is a result of the competiton - and occasional co-operation between the Chatham and the Brighton companies) to additional lines being built between 1863 - 1867 but no detail more than that.

old maps has an 1850 map which shows streets and nothing else and the next map has the three sets of railway lines.


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## Pickman's model (Sep 22, 2020)

teuchter said:


> Are these the ones I have to sign up to a paid genealogy site to see... or is there some other way to get hold of them?


I've not seen tithe maps online but then I've never really searched for them. There should be one in Lambeth archives and what I would do would be email them and ask them to look for you, which would probably be free, and if poss to send you a copy - for which you would likely pay


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## teuchter (Sep 22, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> there's a brief reference in the history of the London Chatham and Dover railway (the tangle of lines round Brixton is a result of the competiton - and occasional co-operation between the Chatham and the Brighton companies) to additional lines being built between 1863 - 1867 but no detail more than that.



I happen to know the (rather complicated) history here in some detail... I recommend the LCDR history by Adrian Gray (maybe you already have it).

The first line (which ran between what's now Loughborough Junction and Brixton) was completed by the LCDR in May 1863. That's the northernmost of the three viaducts that cross Barrington Rd.
Then the middle of the three viaducts came into use in August 1865.
Services started running on the other viaduct - the southernmost one - in August 1866. These services were stopping/starting from East Brixton (then called Loughborough Park) at this point though - the viaduct was only complete going eastwards from Barrington Rd.
That southernmost viaduct was built by the LBSCR, from Barrington road eastwards, and a little bit further east it turns into a 4-track viaduct. 2 of those tracks (the northernmost ones) were for the LBSCR to use themselves, and the other two were handed over to the LCDR. There was a deal between the two companies that meant that in return for this, the LCDR actually built the viaduct running west from Barrington Rd towards Brixton, which was then handed over to the LBSCR in May 1867. It was then used by LBSCR services which could now run through East Brixton from either direction.

This is also covered in my post with my theory about the reason for the mystery bridge abutment here.


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## teuchter (Sep 22, 2020)

Pickman's model said:


> I've not seen tithe maps online but then I've never really searched for them. There should be one in Lambeth archives and what I would do would be email them and ask them to look for you, which would probably be free, and if poss to send you a copy - for which you would likely pay


Ok, thanks.

My researches last night suggested that they might be available online here.
Paid site but it looks like they have a free trial which I might do.
If I have no luck there, I might get in touch with Lambeth archives.


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## CH1 (Sep 22, 2020)

teuchter said:


> This is the map you want - it shows things after the first railway line is built but prior to the second (southernmost) viaduct being built.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't think the layout of houses between the railway line and Coldharbour Lane is credible on this map.
Also my recollection of the - now restored - three buildings on the opposite side of Coldharbour Lane starting with the Domino Club was they were called Barrington Cottages in the Minet Archives documentation. I know this is odd - we would think of cottages as small. On the map they are called Barrington Villas - and a row of at least five semi detached buildings is there. Five minutes in the library might ascertain how many villas/cottages there were and where Sutherland Terrace started.


----------



## co-op (Sep 22, 2020)

editor said:


> From FB
> 
> View attachment 230540



That's great. The Warrior was probably the single pub I spent most time in during the 80s. Am I imagining that it had a silhouette of Boadacea on that corner panel in the 80s? And it's full name was the Warrior Queen?


----------



## editor (Sep 22, 2020)

co-op said:


> That's great. The Warrior was probably the single pub I spent most time in during the 80s. Am I imagining that it had a silhouette of Boadacea on that corner panel in the 80s? And it's full name was the Warrior Queen?


If only it had hung on for a few more years it could have cashed in on the craft beer craze. I had some good nights when it was the Junction too. 















						From The Warrior to Foxtons and a supermarket: a depressing Brixton vision
					

How’s this for a truly depressing sight: a supermarket operating in the premises of a former pub with the upstairs covered in Foxtons estate agent signs? This scene was taken on Coldharbour L…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## co-op (Sep 22, 2020)

editor said:


> If only it had hung on for a few more years it could have cashed in on the craft beer craze. I had some good nights when it was the Junction too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



LOL the Junction was allegedly a sign that LJ was getting trendy if I remember rightly.


----------



## editor (Sep 22, 2020)

co-op said:


> LOL the Junction was allegedly a sign that LJ was getting trendy if I remember rightly.


It was still rough as fuck around that area.


----------



## co-op (Sep 22, 2020)

editor said:


> It was still rough as fuck around that area.



Sure was. Drunk wankers like me reeling abaht.


----------



## Johnlj1234 (Sep 22, 2020)

CH1 said:


> I don't think the layout of houses between the railway line and Coldharbour Lane is credible on this map.
> Also my recollection of the - now restored - three buildings on the opposite side of Coldharbour Lane starting with the Domino Club was they were called Barrington Cottages in the Minet Archives documentation. I know this is odd - we would think of cottages as small. On the map they are called Barrington Villas - and a row of at least five semi detached buildings is there. Five minutes in the library might ascertain how many villas/cottages there were and where Sutherland Terrace started.



Calling largish houses Cottages does sound odd, but that is what happened. The OS 1893-96 shows just three houses between the railway line and Coldharbour lane. Though the Station Masters house looks larger than the existing house. The first station master at 59 Barrington Road I have listed is Walter Guilford from 1878 through to 1908 when he retired. George Crittenden I have as Station Master from 1912 to 1914, haven't checked 1909 to 1911 yet. I have nothing for 1915 & 1916 then from 1917 & 1918 Richard Holdaway is listed as Station Master.


----------



## editor (Sep 27, 2020)

Great stuff! Online walking tour along Railton Road explores the history of radical Brixton squats and the legacy left in 2020


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## editor (Sep 30, 2020)

Love this


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 30, 2020)

picture must be from before 1892 when the tram route was extended up Brixton Hill and converted to cable operation south of Kennington.

The 'Wellington' on the front is the 'Lord Wellington' on Old Kent Road - it was a ^ shaped route via St George's Church, Borough.  The London Tramways Company had a depot just off the Old Kent Road there.

I make it about here - Google Maps

1896 London Suburbs directory shows Holland Arms and J Newark, Carpenter



(Chapel Street is now Mowll Street - the LCC and post office had spates of tidying up street names where there were too many of a particular street name)

Can't find references to the Holland Arms after the 1896 directory, suggesting the current building went up somewhere around the turn of the century.

Not sure what the heck the thing on the pavement is - presume some sort of fire hydrant?


----------



## felonius monk (Sep 30, 2020)

If that's now Mowll St then the carpenter business made way for Glenshaw Mansions. Charlie Chaplin and his brother lived there 1908-10. Max Wall was born in 1908 in the same building. There's blue plaques to both (Max round the corner in Mowll St)


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 30, 2020)

felonius monk said:


> If that's now Mowll St then the carpenter business made way for Glenshaw Mansions. Charlie Chaplin and his brother lived there 1908-10. Max Wall was born in 1908 in the same building. There's blue plaques to both (Max round the corner in Mowll St)





didn't know about the connection with CC there (i knew about the east street patch and the lambeth workhouse)

ETA - Glenshaw Mansions seems to have had a few connections with the music hall / theatrical world - Layers of London also lists actress Buena Bent, comedienne Lily Burnand and John Trongi, manager of Gatti's Music Hall on Westminster Bridge Road as residents there in the years before / shortly after the 1914 war.


----------



## felonius monk (Oct 2, 2020)

That's a great resource. In lockdown I made a blue plaque walk for myself around Brixton and Stockwell including Dan Leno, Fred Karno with their music hall roots. Both Sydney and Charlie Chaplin worked for Fred Karno whose workshop is what is now Clockwork Studios in Southwell Road in Camberwell. There's Lilian Baylis and Violette Szabo at Stockwell Park, Van Gogh of course at Kennington, Havelock Ellis, CLR James in Railton Road. And no-plaque sites like Bowie in Stansfield Road and Claude Rains who was born at at Tregothan Road at Clapham North. Not forgetting Cherry Groce in Normandy Road either.


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## editor (Oct 4, 2020)

This hotel was on Effra Road


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 4, 2020)

editor said:


> This hotel was on Effra Road



from the 1919 London Suburbs directory (not listed in 1904 or 1911 editions)




1919 phone book confirms this is it -



looks like the building survived the war - 1950 OS map here


----------



## CH1 (Oct 5, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> from the 1919 London Suburbs directory (not listed in 1904 or 1911 editions)
> 
> View attachment 232972
> 
> ...


That makes it where the Vida Walsh Centre & flats above now is (2b Saltoun Road).
I can vaguely remember before Vida Walsh was built - which was around 1985.
But all I recall about that site is it was vacant and screened of from the street by corrugated iron.

Maybe the hotel went into decline in WW2 and was CPO'd on account of the Inner Ring Road scheme?
Certainly when I moved to Brixton in late 1978 Rushcroft Road and Saltoun Road north side had been at risk of demolition due to the ring road and megatower schemes draw up in the 1960s.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 5, 2020)

CH1 said:


> Maybe the hotel went into decline in WW2 and was CPO'd on account of the Inner Ring Road scheme?



dunno.

reference here to "Hanne and de la Haye Private Hotel at 5 Effra Road " (no. 5 not shown in 1911 London Suburbs directory.)

not listed as Pendennis in 1926 phone book, so had either changed name or use by then.   

not sure quite what point a residential hotel in Brixton would have become less viable.  



from London Gazette, 5 June 1928, doesn't prove much either way.

Not marked as suffering any bomb damage in the LCC bomb damage map.


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## editor (Oct 6, 2020)

Anyone more about this intriguing company?


----------



## nick (Oct 6, 2020)

Wiki ?  Decca Navigator System - Wikipedia

on the assumption that it is the same thing?


----------



## felonius monk (Oct 7, 2020)

The factory made navigation systems during the war for the De Havilland Mosquito and navigation systems for D-Day. Before and after it made radiograms and later TV sets. 





						Decca Record Co - Graces Guide
					






					www.gracesguide.co.uk


----------



## CH1 (Oct 7, 2020)

editor said:


> Anyone more about this intriguing company?
> 
> View attachment 233151


I worked for them at 247 Burlington Road New Malden.

Decca Navigator in the mid 1970s made radar equipment for yachts and small vessels at Ingate Place Battersea.
The research labs in Burlington Road were by that time designing VOR (VHF OmniRange) air navigation beacons. These were still in use as late as 10 years ago - I was in a light aircraft from Deauville to Shoreham which was using that system around 2008. Like the 1940s Low Frequency system this would no doubt be superseded by GPS now.

Another facet of Decca Navigator was the Electronic Warfare establishment in Hersham. I don't know exactly what they did - I was not given the tour. I had told them I was in CND at university.

The old Decca Navigator system seemed to have a sort of camaraderie. There were transmitting stations all over the world with only one or two employees - rather like light houses. There used to be a Yahoo group run by these people, but it seems to have been shut down. I think Yahoo stopped these groups (which were message boards a bit like Urban).

However clearly a few keenies have kept it up here: Deccaman groups.io Group


----------



## Johnlj1234 (Oct 7, 2020)

I used to sell Decca Navigators years ago to yachties when I worked at a London Chandlery based out on The Highway east of Tower Bridge.  I vaguely remember they were very expensive, but it was Thatcherite years and plenty of money around. They became obsolete around 2000 when GPS was introduced. There were Decca transmitting stations all over the world.


----------



## CH1 (Oct 7, 2020)

Johnlj1234 said:


> I used to sell Decca Navigators years ago to yachties when I worked at a London Chandlery based out on The Highway east of Tower Bridge.  I vaguely remember they were very expensive, but it was Thatcherite years and plenty of money around. They became obsolete around 2000 when GPS was introduced. There were Decca transmitting stations all over the world.


I thought Decca Navigator equipment was normally rented, as opposed to the American Loran system which was bought outright?
The National Maritime Museum has a Decca unit on their website





						Decca Navigator Mk 21 | Royal Museums Greenwich
					






					collections.rmg.co.uk


----------



## CH1 (Oct 11, 2020)

CH1 said:


> I worked for them at 247 Burlington Road New Malden.
> 
> Decca Navigator in the mid 1970s made radar equipment for yachts and small vessels at Ingate Place Battersea.
> The research labs in Burlington Road were by that time designing VOR (VHF OmniRange) air navigation beacons. These were still in use as late as 10 years ago - I was in a light aircraft from Deauville to Shoreham which was using that system around 2008. Like the 1940s Low Frequency system this would no doubt be superseded by GPS now.
> ...


The Deccaman group flags up this video about a restored harbour defence launch - HMS Medusa - which took part in the D Day landing as a lane marker - so the invasion forces were shipped in safely avoiding mines.
All very interesting, but the bit about Decca Navigator equipment starts about 20 minutes in. I found it fascinating - a bit of technical nostalgia more esoteric than trains and trams!


----------



## editor (Oct 11, 2020)

Fantastic pic


----------



## editor (Oct 12, 2020)

Brixton ten years ago when the wi-fi was metered at the Ritzy (and I was using an annoying photo filter)













Brixton photos: a unicycling busker, street architecture and coffee


----------



## editor (Oct 16, 2020)

Twenty years ago:





- Brixton history: Brixton Village, Brockwell Park and street scenes from October 2000


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 25, 2020)

not me selling it, and don't know the person who is, but may be of interest to someone (i've got one but a different edition)

these usually include a chunk of council information and a lot of adverts for local businesses of the day

(seems to be from the pre 1965 metropolian borough, not the current london borough, which absorbed a chunk of wandsworth to balance wandsworth absorbing the old battersea borough)









						The Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth, Official Guide, , Good Condition Book, ISBN  | eBay
					

Product Category : Books. Condition : Good. Dust Jacket : False. First Edition : False. Signed : False.



					www.ebay.co.uk


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 6, 2020)

on flickr today - stockwell road, c. 1948-50

(oops - photo seems to have been taken down for reasons unknown)


----------



## editor (Nov 8, 2020)

Anyone know more about this old shop on Railton Road?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 8, 2020)

editor said:


> Anyone know more about this old shop on Railton Road?



not a lot - old street directories seem only to be public domain if they are 100+ years old (presume on copyright grounds) so can't get at anything from the era this dates from. 

1919 London Suburbs directory has quite a few shop / commercial premises there (quite a few buildings on Railton Road are fairly obviously converted shops)



can find a 2000 Lambeth planning application (it opens as PDF so hard to get a postable link) for 'shop, 70 Railton Road' - presume to convert the ground floor bit to residential.

1896 directory lists William A Hanan, corn merchant at number 70.

Slightly earlier, it was the premises of Nathaniel W Hubbard, Coal merchant.  He was a 'progressive' London County Council member for Lambeth (Norwood) or Alderman from the formation of the LCC until the 1907 election (in the LCC's early years, LCC candidates didn't run under national party names - 'progressives' were initially informally aligned with the liberals, and 'moderates' (later 'municipal reform') with the tories.)



(attached from 'London County Council Election, 1892: the elector's guide, a popular hand-book for the Election'  online via LSE)


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 11, 2020)

on teh tweeter today



1904 London Suburbs directory - 



looks like the area was re-developed fairly soon after that (they aren't in the 1911 directory) with the current places (were they called maisonettes then? - the double front doors and numbering makes it clear they were built like that not converted from houses)

1895 OS map with pub marked here


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## editor (Nov 11, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on teh tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Have you got  date for the pub closure?

There's a Buzz article waiting for you if you fancy digging a bit deeper into the pub's history!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 11, 2020)

editor said:


> Have you got  date for the pub closure?
> 
> There's a Buzz article waiting for you if you fancy digging a bit deeper into the pub's history!



not sure I can offer much more than what's on pubwiki, which in turn has gathered info from the london directories - there isn't a 'london suburbs' issue in public domain between 1904 and 1911, so must have closed somewhere between the two.

Photo's from the Watney archive that ended up with Heritage England a few years back (here) 

The terrace in the background doesn't look that well built, but seems quite early for redevelopment - possibly very badly built...

this one in Lambeth archives shows the (then) fairly new maisonettes as 'c. 1905' - just a few hints of the 'arts and crafts' style about them...


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## CH1 (Nov 15, 2020)

Remember Eurostar......
.
This Brixton Challenge photo appeared in the Brixton Society's newsletter 188 (January 2008). 
Eurostar services to Waterloo ceased on 13th November 2007 - after which Eurostar trains no longer went through Brixton. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of Hanson freight trains. 
BS newletters are available free here: Publications – The Brixton Society


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 19, 2020)

on flickr today



on an enthusiasts' tour, probably c. 1950 / 1 - looks like the builders are in to start demolishing the tram depot / building what's now Arriva's bus garage.

London County Council 1 was the prototype for what would have been a new generation of London trams, which was never built after London Transport took over...


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 19, 2020)

Stockwell Road photo (late 40s - 1951) that disappeared a week or so back has re-surfaced


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 25, 2020)

just south of Streatham Hill Station (so stretching slightly) but with added pre-war London bus and new-ish post-war Southdown coach on the London - Brighton express



coach looks like one of the batch this survivor was from -



I don't have a post-war timetable to hand, 1933 London Coastal Coaches timetable shows an hourly service London - Brighton, 2 hours 30 from Victoria to Brighton (including a 10 minute stop at Crawley)


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## teuchter (Nov 26, 2020)

Begads... It would have to be a fair bit cheaper than the train to make that journey time seem worth it!


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 26, 2020)

teuchter said:


> Begads... It would have to be a fair bit cheaper than the train to make that journey time seem worth it!



I don't have anything with train fares of the era to hand - 1933 timetable lists coach as 5 shillings single, 6/ - day return, 9/6 period return London - Brighton.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 6, 2020)




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## editor (Dec 10, 2020)

Fantastic image


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## CH1 (Dec 13, 2020)

Interesting image posted by Ron Higgins in another forum
This is the most complete picture I've seen of the fabled Electric Avenue canopies.
Possibly beginning to get a little worse for wear at this point


----------



## editor (Dec 14, 2020)




----------



## lang rabbie (Dec 14, 2020)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on teh tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Looking at the NLS maps in "side by side" view, I don't think the pub was demolished for the main terrace of maisonettes with sash windows. 

I think the site of the pub is the pair of maisonettes (now 387-393 New Park Road?) with bay windows that I think were constructed slightly later after WW1 alongside Tremaine Court.  IIRC up to the 1990s, they used to have similar replacement windows to the taller block, suggesting they once had a common landlord?


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 14, 2020)

lang rabbie said:


> I think the site of the pub is the pair of maisonettes (now 387-393 New Park Road?) with bay windows that I think were constructed slightly later after WW1 alongside Tremaine Court. IIRC up to the 1990s, they used to have similar replacement windows to the taller block, suggesting they once had a common landlord?



Yes, think I came to that conclusion after posting - think I established that the street numbering got changed at some point which loused up my original idea


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 14, 2020)

on Flickr today 



Clapham Road, Kennington - where Europcar / Usborne Mews is now.

Blue Belle Coaches was part of a Brixton based business empire - more about it all here


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## editor (Dec 18, 2020)

Who knows more?!


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 18, 2020)

editor said:


> Who knows more?!




1961 phone book


----------



## editor (Dec 18, 2020)

And:


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## editor (Dec 18, 2020)

15 years ago




















						Brixton history – A look around the street markets, December 2005
					

Here’s a short series of archive photos taken around the Brixton street markets fifteen years ago in December 2005, featuring scenes on Electric Avenue, Market Row, Pope’s Road, Electri…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## Smick (Dec 18, 2020)

editor said:


> And:



What an amazing story!


----------



## nemoanonemo (Dec 18, 2020)

Just saw this on twitter posted by Blitzwalker. It's taken from Hinton Road facing Loughborough Junction. I don't know the background to the damage but can guess from the twitter handle.


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## Blitzwalker (Dec 20, 2020)

nemoanonemo said:


> Just saw this on twitter posted by Blitzwalker. It's taken from Hinton Road facing Loughborough Junction. I don't know the background to the damage but can guess from the twitter handle.
> 
> View attachment 244043


Hi, yes this and quite a few other local stations feature in a file I was checking out at the National Archives in Kew last week. This is immediate aftermath of bomb damage at the bridge in Hinton Road caused on 10/11 May 1941.


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## RoyReed (Dec 22, 2020)

Can anyone here help out with this Tweet?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 22, 2020)

RoyReed said:


> Can anyone here help out with this Tweet?



I've seen the picture before, and it's clearly either two photographs or has been scanned in two bits, as you can see the join.  I've just had a play with it, and there's a chunk missing where the 'join' is, and I can't get the two halves to line up precisely, so think it was two photographs because of very slight difference of angle.  It's too big a gap for me to try and repair it.

In terms of when it was taken, it can't be before early 1931, as there's a double deck tram on Kingsway Subway tram service 33 (the subway re-opened after rebuilding in January 1931)

There's a poster advertising cycle racing on Saturday 5 September - this could match 1931 or 1936.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 22, 2020)

at a tangent, did the site that's now the north east corner of the square (vacant site between the petrol station and norfolk house) ever get developed?

if so must have been fairly late before the 1939 war then flattened during it - although not marked in the LCC bomb damage map

just shown as blank rather than 'ruin' on the 1950 OS map - Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland


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## RoyReed (Dec 23, 2020)

This might explain the join: https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/view-from-town-hall-brixton/

It was made as a panorama from the roof of the town hall. For some reason that section has been saved separately.


----------



## brixtonscot (Dec 24, 2020)

Does anybody remember Brixton Socialist Club which was held in Canterbury Arms in late 70's ?
I don't think it lasted very long, I remember looking for permanent premises , but can't remember what happened after that 








						Brixton Socialist Club at Canterbury Arms (1978)
					

The Canterbury Arms in Brixton  is facing demolition, to be replaced with flats. Its great back room has seen some amazing nights, in parti...




					transpont.blogspot.com


----------



## editor (Dec 24, 2020)

brixtonscot said:


> Does anybody remember Brixton Socialist Club which was held in Canterbury Arms in late 70's ?
> I don't think it lasted very long, I remember looking for permanent premises , but can't remember what happened after that
> 
> 
> ...


And still the Canterbury Arms site remains unused. That pub played a bit part in Brixton culture/history.


----------



## happyshopper (Dec 27, 2020)

Went a couple of times but memories are vague. Wasn’t there a problem because it was also the boozer of choice for drinkers from Brixton nick?


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## editor (Jan 3, 2021)

I'm a bit fascinated by this concrete lamp post survivor on Effra Road by the entrance to Currys. Anyone got any info/archive pics?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 3, 2021)

editor said:


> I'm a bit fascinated by this concrete lamp post survivor on Effra Road by the entrance to Currys. Anyone got any info/archive pics?
> 
> View attachment 246817



can't state with any certainty (is there a removable plate on it so you can get at the electrics?  if so, has it got anything stamped on it?)  but it looks very London Transport-ish, looks a close relation to these at arnos grove underground station, 1934







which came up fairly near the top of a search on underground station car parks.  i suspect there are not many left at underground stations.  i understand LT made their own concrete stuff (like bus stops) in house - there was a big building works at parsons green.

51 - 53 Effra Road was LT's bus ticket machine workshop / ticket roll production works until the late 80s (closed due to combination of creeping privatisation and move to electronic ticket machines) - shown as 'printing works' on 1950s OS map

It was previously the LCC Tramways printing works (doing tickets as well as maps and posters) then was rebuilt fairly substantially post 1945 as it had been damaged by bombing, also taking over the function of the (again former LCC) ticket punch repair shop up Stockwell Road, as the printing function diminished as the bell punch (requiring ranges of printed tickets) was replaced by mechanical ticket machines that did their own printing on to plain ticket rolls during the 50s.

I can't find any photos of the works in post-war form.  The 1950 OS map suggests there may have been a pedestrian gateway about where the lamp post is.

An interesting question might be who owns it now, whether it's council, or the owners of the site, or whether it's survived because everyone thinks it belongs to someone else.  (does it actually light up at night time?)

may be worth getting Friends of the LT Museum on to the case before it does get removed.


----------



## editor (Jan 3, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> can't state with any certainty (is there a removable plate on it so you can get at the electrics?  if so, has it got anything stamped on it?)  but it looks very London Transport-ish, looks a close relation to these at arnos grove underground station, 1934
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't think it works - next time I'm passing I'll see if I can find any info stamped on the post.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 3, 2021)

50 years ago this weekend, London Transport started introducing purpose built 'one man operated' double deck buses.

Brixton Garage's route 95 from Tooting to Cannon Street was one of the first







source


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## Rushy (Jan 10, 2021)

editor said:


> What, all of it? Blimey. There's always loads of cars outside so I thought it must be residential.
> 
> They must almost be as big as Squire & Partners!
> 
> ...


Application is in for conversion of this church to 17 flats.


----------



## editor (Jan 25, 2021)

So where was the Brixton Hall?


----------



## Jimbeau (Jan 25, 2021)

editor said:


> So where was the Brixton Hall?
> 
> View attachment 251289


Top of Acre Lane, opposite the Town Hall. Can be seen on the 1895 map.

If it was still standing in 1944, it would presumably have been lost in the V1 attack that took out that row of shops. 25 people were killed there, many of whom were evacuees staying in a rest centre - which may well have been Brixton Hall.


----------



## CH1 (Jan 25, 2021)

Jimbeau said:


> Top of Acre Lane, opposite the Town Hall. Can be seen on the 1895 map.
> 
> If it was still standing in 1944, it would presumably have been lost in the V1 attack that took out that row of shops. 25 people were killed there, many of whom were evacuees staying in a rest centre - which may well have been Brixton Hall.


Surely it's the location of the Eighth Church of Christ Scientist at 20 Acre Lane? (now taken over by the Universal Pentecostal Church).
Lambeth kindly provide drainage plans here: https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/eighth-church-of-christ-scientist-acre-lane-brixton/
These plans suggest the church was built around 1925.
It clearly survived the war  - no damage obvious when I attended out of curiosity around 1990.
It looked as though nothing had changed since 1925 - and the congregation of 8 were waiting to be brought back for full capacity, which might have been 1000 maybe. The auditorium is a bit cinema-like with a  downward slope to the front.
No balcony FWICR.

Doesn't answer the original question though. I suggest the original Brixton Hall was demolished to make way for the Christian Scientists. The decor of the new Acre Lane church building was a bit Art Deco I reckon, but nothing up to the standard of Cadogan Hall in Sloane Square (formerly the First Church of Christ Scientist). Cadogan Hall must be grade 1 * I should think. Acre Lane never quite got to the level of Sloane Square.


----------



## RoyReed (Jan 25, 2021)

There's a photo in the Lambeth archive that just has it in.

View looking north-west from the roof of Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton. In the foreground is Brixton Hall and on the horizon is the partially completed Battersea Power Station.Ref: SP16/33/7                                                



			https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/view-from-roof-of-lambeth-town-hall/
		


And dance card

A dance card belonging to Miss Maude Neville for the Ixion Football Club's Cinderella Dance at Brixton Hall in Acre Lane. Dated 8th March 1900.  Ref: 2002/20



			https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/dance-card-ixion-football-club-brixton-hall-acre-lane/


----------



## RoyReed (Jan 25, 2021)

And this in the British Library








			Results


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 25, 2021)

in 1890, may have been this place where brixton town hall is now



			https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/torrey-alexander-mission-hall-acre-lane-brixton/
		


although that photo is dated 1905 which looks about right with the early electric tram


----------



## editor (Jan 25, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> in 1890, may have been this place where brixton town hall is now
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes that is the site of the Town Hall. It was huge and used for massive religious rallies.


----------



## RoyReed (Jan 25, 2021)

More stuff at the British Library if you search 'Brixton Hall' in the Evanion catalogue.


----------



## RoyReed (Jan 25, 2021)

This in the Granger Picture Library


----------



## Jimbeau (Jan 25, 2021)

CH1 said:


> Surely it's the location of the Eighth Church of Christ Scientist at 20 Acre Lane? (now taken over by the Universal Pentecostal Church).
> Lambeth kindly provide drainage plans here: https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/eighth-church-of-christ-scientist-acre-lane-brixton/
> These plans suggest the church was built around 1925.
> It clearly survived the war  - no damage obvious when I attended out of curiosity around 1990.
> ...


I’m pretty sure they’re adjacent sites - as the drainage plan implies.


----------



## Jimbeau (Jan 25, 2021)

RoyReed said:


> There's a photo in the Lambeth archive that just has it in.
> 
> View looking north-west from the roof of Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton. In the foreground is Brixton Hall and on the horizon is the partially completed Battersea Power Station.Ref: SP16/33/7
> 
> ...


This seems to seal it. What an impressive building it was - and still standing in 1936 too!


----------



## Jimbeau (Jan 26, 2021)

Jimbeau said:


> This seems to seal it. What an impressive building it was - and still standing in 1936 too!


For anyone still playing along...

10-18 Acre Lane is now Acre House, but up until the V1 attack of 28 June 1944, that stretch included a post office, Brixton Hall and a cafe known as Jaxsnax. For a dozen or so years in the Edwardian era, Brixton Hall saw life as a 945-seat cinema - a branch of the Theatre de Luxe group.

There's a great picture on Lambeth Landmark from c1920 where the cinema sign is clearly legible.

The doodlebug did most of its damage to Nos 12-18, with the cafe bearing the brunt of the impact. Photographs taken on the day show the church next door damaged but largely intact, and the post office at No.10 with its windows blown in. This is borne out by the LCC Bomb Damage Maps, which show Brixton Hall as damaged beyond repair, but the adjacent sites as repairable at cost.



RAF aerial survey photos from 1945 clearly show prefabs at the street edge, with roofless structures behind them, but the main body of the Hall still standing at the rear of the plot. By the time the OS maps were updated, the prefabs remained but the site at the rear had been cleared. Acre House was eventually built as the Borough Engineer's Office in the early 1970s, with council flats above.


----------



## teuchter (Jan 26, 2021)

So that's why the left-most one of the terrace of slightly dutch-looking gables doesn't match the others - it's actually the right-hand end of a building truncated by the bomb.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 26, 2021)

Jimbeau said:


> For anyone still playing along...



yes, inclined to think that the theatre / variety programmes were far more likely to be this place rather than the religious 'brixton hall' on what's now the town hall site.

cinema treasures has very little about it and not mentioned on arthur lloyd page on brixton's theatres / music halls


----------



## editor (Jan 26, 2021)

So can anyone source an interior photo of the Brixton Hall?


----------



## Jimbeau (Jan 26, 2021)

editor said:


> So can anyone source an interior photo of the Brixton Hall?




From the SLP, Saturday 13th November 1880.
Sounds like quite some venue:

Opening of Brixton Hall. 

The opening night of the above hall was celebrated on Wednesday evening by a splendid concert, arranged Mr. James Budd. The new hall and anterooms, opened for the first time to the public, by far the most elegant and commodious of any existing kindred building. Mr. Chard, the proprietor, has spared no expense in building and decorating, and nothing required by artiste and audience has escaped the architect’s attention. A beautiful corridor leads from Acre-lane to the hall, the committee rooms opeuing out on either side. The hall is immediately at the end, and is entered from the centre of the south end, presenting, on entering, a most imposing appearance. The roof, which is very lofty, is lighted by a sun-burner, supplemented by side lights, and gives out an unusual amount of light. The internal decorations are lavish in the extreme, the ceiling being tastefully and elaborately decorated in “open work,” and is arched. The stage occupies the north end of the building, and is portable. The decorative hangings, however, on concert nights must for the future be removed, as the sound was found be materially impaired from their use. The hall is, however, without exception, the finest in South London, and will admirably meet the requirements of its intended use. The opening concert, which drew a crowded audience, was admirably arranged and well carried out, the following being the artistes retained—viz., Madame Worrell, Madame Adeline Paget, Miss Matilda Roby, Miss Pauline Featherby, Mr. Vernon Rigby, Mr. Arthur J. Thompson, and Mr. James Budd. The band of the Royal Artillery, under the direction of Mr. James Lawson, played during the evening. Miss Rose Black was at the pianoforte, and Mr. Humphrey Stark was the accompanist. Madame Worrell sang splendidly, and was enthusiastically received, as was also Madame Paget, who sang the air O Luce di quest Aniina in very good style. Miss Matilda Roby sang well, and Miss Pauline Featherby was recalled for her selection. Mr. Rigby sang “The Message” in his usual style, reserving himself for the final A, which he got with effect, and Mr. Thompson again sang “The Meeting of the Waters.” Mr. sang, he always sings, in most taking style, and refused a very pressing encore. Miss Rose Black is a fairly good pianiste, and may one day make mark. The Royal Artillery band played some selections magnificently, and were very warmly received. Mr. Humphrey Stark, Mus. Bac., accompanied with consummate skill, and the result of their combined efforts was unquestionably a most successful entertainment.


----------



## editor (Jan 26, 2021)

Jimbeau said:


> From the SLP, Saturday 13th November 1880.
> Sounds like quite some venue:
> 
> Opening of Brixton Hall.
> ...


Just a thought seeing as you're digging up so much useful info - fancy putting together a piece for Buzz?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 27, 2021)

editor said:


> Any idea where this is? It says Brixton on the window !
> 
> View attachment 201063



found another chunk of 'ancestry' on local council's website and think i've got it

from 1920 kelly's brixton and clapham directory -



in post 1945 maps, 54 Elliott Road (by then on the corner of  cancell road) matches this place on 1895 OS map



about here


----------



## editor (Jan 27, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> found another chunk of 'ancestry' on local council's website and think i've got it
> 
> from 1920 kelly's brixton and clapham directory -
> 
> ...


It looks like the fencing has been up the whole time!

But excellent work. I'll see if I can post something up on Buzz.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jan 27, 2021)

editor said:


> It looks like the fencing has been up the whole time!
> 
> But excellent work. I'll see if I can post something up on Buzz.



1919 Post Office directory lists a William Robert Berkshire, Dairyman (and some of his neighbours - no sign now that it was a street of small shops.)





(and just what the heck was a 'middle class school for boys'?)

1912 Kelly's Brixton mentions neither Avenue or Berkshire.

Sign outside about NTC public phone - National Telephone Company was taken over by the GPO in 1912, but obsolete signs don't always get taken down that quick.

1911 PO London Suburbs Guide has Walter E Silk, Plumber at 54 Elliott Rd, so sounds as though this picture must date from 1912/3 or later.  Berkshire still in business at this address in 1926.

1914 phone book has Berkshire, Avenue Dairies (and Brixton 972 as painted on the window)



wonder if Thomas, who had a dairy farm in Merton, was a relative?

Not found any trace of another branch to match the SE postcode on one of the carts.

Still in business in Elliott Road in 1939.  The block was damaged in the blitz, although 54 survived, but by the 1946 phone book, Mr Berkshire had moved down the road to 2 Treherne Road (on the corner of Elliott Road)







last phone book appearance is 1949.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 28, 2021)

and sod it, I've gone after the man.

William Robert Berkshire (or Barkshire) born 16.10.1879, place listed as either Camberwell or North Brixton.

1881 census shows 1 year old William Barkshire living at 15 Tindal Street (not far from Elliott Rd), with father Alfred J Barkshire (age 30, railway porter, born 'St John's Surrey') and mother Louisa - William is 4th child listed , two of whom were born in Philadelphia, America)

1891 census shows 11 year old William Barkshire (right age and born in Brixton) living at 16 Tindal Street (not far from Elliott Road) - one of two families living in the house, William now second of four children listed (possibly 2 older children might have left home by 1891), Louisa now single parent / charwoman (can find a record of an Alfred Barkshire's death in Camberwell age 35 - in early 1891.  This doesn't quite match up with 1881 census or records of Alfred James born in Westminster in 1850 and married in 1871 to Louisa, so either the wrong person or error in transcribing age.)

Married Kate (nee Moore) from Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, on 13.1.1901 at St Jude's, East Brixton - address given for them on the marriage certificate as 80 Geneva Road, Brixton.

Possible match in 1901 census, William R Barkshire (although the writing's unclear and listed as either Barksdale or Barkshire) with wife Kate, living at Chase Road, Southgate, he working as a milk carrier.  Occupation and places of birth match, but the ages are given as 27 and 26 which doesn't match (don't know if the census was transcribed from written forms then - could be a transcription error for 21 and 20.)

In 1911 he was still a milk carrier but back south of the river, living at 9 Beardell Street, off Westow Hill, complete with wife and family



In the 1939 register (a sort of emergency census) as a 'retired dairyman' living with his wife Kate, at 17 Kingswood Road (which was then in Wandsworth Borough) - looks like the business kept his name.

died 28 May 1944.


----------



## editor (Jan 28, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> and sod it, I've gone after the man.
> 
> William Robert Berkshire (or Barkshire) born 16.10.1879, place listed as either Camberwell or North Brixton.
> 
> ...


Do you want to write the piece?


----------



## editor (Jan 28, 2021)

Here's a very comprehensive piece on the old Stockwell brewery 











						A history of Hammertons and the site of the Stockwell Brewery in Stockwell Green, 1730 to today
					

For over 200 years, a substantial brewery operated in Stockwell Green,  eventually being owned by C Hammerton & Co.,  and finally Watney Combe Reid before the buildings were demolished in 1965.…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 28, 2021)

editor said:


> Do you want to write the piece?



I'll see what I can do - think I've got an e-mail address for you somewhere


----------



## editor (Jan 28, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> I'll see what I can do - think I've got an e-mail address for you somewhere


urban75 - at - gmail.com


----------



## DietCokeGirl (Jan 28, 2021)

editor said:


> Here's a very comprehensive piece on the old Stockwell brewery
> 
> 
> View attachment 251766
> ...



Really interesting! Does anyone know much about the brewery that stood  just around the corner on Combermere Road - were they connected or rivals? I believe it became artists studios and a womens center.


----------



## editor (Jan 29, 2021)

Church Of God, Effra Road, Brixton 1964


----------



## editor (Jan 30, 2021)

Some Brixton cycling history  














						Brixton cycling history – the magnificent 1920s and 1930s machines of F H Grubb, Robsart St, Brixton
					

Established in 1914 in Brixton by record breaking cyclist  Frederick Henry Grubb (b 27 May 1887), the Grubb brand produced a range of successful and innovative cycles for all abilities. The busines…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## wemakeyousoundb (Jan 31, 2021)

DietCokeGirl said:


> Really interesting! Does anyone know much about the brewery that stood  just around the corner on Combermere Road - were they connected or rivals? I believe it became artists studios and a womens center.


Was gonna ask the same as I squatted in the house part of it from 1989 to 1991, before that it was known as the Black Women Centre and had a mural to Mary Seacole on the combermere road wall, there were artists studios in the main building upper parts and the groud floor and yard were used as an ambulance depot (or maybe some other official vehicles, it's been a while now)
e2a: OS Map 1944-1969 says: borough cleansing depot.


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## CH1 (Feb 1, 2021)

wemakeyousoundb said:


> Was gonna ask the same as I squatted in the house part of it from 1989 to 1991, before that it was known as the Black Women Centre and had a mural to Mary Seacole on the combermere road wall, there were artists studios in the main building upper parts and the groud floor and yard were used as an ambulance depot (or maybe some other official vehicles, it's been a while now)
> e2a: OS Map 1944-1969 says: borough cleansing depot.


DietCokeGirl
Presumably it's this one - and accounts for there being a council block opposite side of Stockwell Road called Waltham House





						Waltham Brothers Ltd - Brewery History Society Wiki
					






					breweryhistory.com


----------



## wemakeyousoundb (Feb 1, 2021)

CH1 said:


> DietCokeGirl
> Presumably it's this one - and accounts for there being a council block opposite side of Stockwell Road called Waltham House
> 
> 
> ...


thanks, I didn't think of looking for combermere road when searching on there


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## DietCokeGirl (Feb 1, 2021)

Found a pic on google from Lambeth Archives


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## DietCokeGirl (Feb 1, 2021)

CH1 said:


> DietCokeGirl
> Presumably it's this one - and accounts for there being a council block opposite side of Stockwell Road called Waltham House
> 
> 
> ...


Great pics, thanks!


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## CH1 (Feb 1, 2021)

DietCokeGirl said:


> Found a pic on google from Lambeth Archives  View attachment 252317


I don't remember the Black Women's Centre - but I do remember some sort of site visit before the lans were approved for the current block of private flats.

At that time part of the site seemed to be parking up space for Social Services ambulances but the back bit where Walthams Brewery had been had some sort of awning and there were art works being displayed - open to the courtyard on one side.

Needless to say the private flats got waved through. The gallery had been a temporary use.

Funnily enough Google shows that there was a Stockwell Depot studio at an earlier date.
Stockwell Depot 1967 – 79 / Exhibition Opening and Book Launch – University of Greenwich Galleries

There was certainly still art going on in the early 1990s, even if not part of this group.


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## teuchter (Feb 7, 2021)

Stockwell road, probably post war



And Brixton


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 7, 2021)

teuchter said:


> Stockwell road, probably post war



yes - tram still has a headlamp mask (slightly modified version of what was fitted for the blackout) - for various reasons, London trams kept them until the end of operations.


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## teuchter (Feb 7, 2021)

Also... I didn't know that this now rather defaced building on Shakespeare Rd was once a pub.


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## wemakeyousoundb (Feb 20, 2021)

teuchter said:


> Also... I didn't know that this now rather defaced building on Shakespeare Rd was once a pub.
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 253247



Oh
I thought it had always been a church as "Ph" on old ordnance survey map can also mean "House of Worship" 
through the alley behind it were stables back in the late 80s.


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## hypernormalized (Feb 21, 2021)

Probably posted somewhere upthread, but this resource has a load of old photos of Brixton and surroundings, you can buy prints.



			https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/
		


edit: looks like it has been posted, I'll have to set aside some time to read through this beast of a wonderful thread


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 21, 2021)

hypernormalized said:


> Probably posted somewhere upthread, but this resource has a load of old photos of Brixton and surroundings, you can buy prints.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



London Picture Archive is similar only more so - city of london and fomer LCC / GLC photo archive now held by london metropolitan archives.  A search on 'Brixton' brings up 750 images


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## Marka17 (Feb 22, 2021)

Hello all, apologies if this has been posted elsewhere but walked past this today and was wondering if anyone knew the history of the place?

_ah sorry don't worry - just saw this posted previously_


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## hypernormalized (Feb 22, 2021)

Marka17 said:


> Hello all, apologies if this has been posted elsewhere but walked past this today and was wondering if anyone knew the history of the place?



Did you forget to include a link?


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 25, 2021)

1912.  Source


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## editor (Feb 26, 2021)

A piece on the long lost Criterion pub














						Lost pubs of Lambeth: The Criterion, Shakespeare Road, Herne Hill
					

Located on Shakespeare Road between Brixton and Herne Hill, the Criterion looked a modest affair, and its early closure (in the mid 1930s) has made it a tricky pub to research.



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## friendofdorothy (Feb 27, 2021)

Marka17 said:


> Hello all, apologies if this has been posted elsewhere but walked past this today and was wondering if anyone knew the history of the place?
> 
> _ah sorry don't worry - just saw this posted previously_


where is that - looks like Railton road?  when was it posted before - sorry I'm feeling lazy.


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 27, 2021)

friendofdorothy said:


> where is that - looks like Railton road? when was it posted before - sorry I'm feeling lazy.



70 Railton Road.

Stuff from previous mention


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 8, 2021)

on teh tweeter today



R C Hammett Ltd are listed in 1959 phone book with about 75 branches in London and head office in Smithfield.  They seem to be still in business but looks like only wholesale


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## editor (Mar 11, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on teh tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> R C Hammett Ltd are listed in 1959 phone book with about 75 branches in London and head office in Smithfield.  They seem to be still in business but looks like only wholesale



They had a branch in Brixton too 






















						Wonderful old ‘ghost signs’ revealed in Herne Hill as the former Café Provencal is refurbished
					

Refurbishment work on the former Café Provencal restaurant in Half Moon Lane, Herne Hill – which closed in May last year – has  resulted in the signs of previous businesses being  tempo…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 13, 2021)

on tweeter today from robnitm - 'brixton market, 1939' (not sure if this would be a regular busy shopping day, or after the start of wartime shortages?)


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## editor (Mar 16, 2021)

Finally posted!
Brixton History: Avenue Dairies in Elliot Road, SW9


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 17, 2021)

via a few re-tweets, saw this today









						Remembering Pearl Alcock, the Black bisexual shebeen queen of Brixton - gal-dem
					

Jamaican artist Pearl Alcock ran underground gay bars, made outsider art and created crucial spaces for the Black queer community in 20th century London.




					gal-dem.com


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## teuchter (Mar 28, 2021)

The now long disused northern pair of platforms at Brixton station, in the 1920s. NB in the background the overhead electrification still present on the high level line.











						SECR tender engines - MikeMorant
					

Wainwright/Stirling F1 class 4-4-0 no. A203 negotiates the tight curve through Brixton station on 28/3/1929. A203 had been built as an SER 'F' class to Stirling's design in 1885 and was substantially rebuilt to Wainwright's F1 speciification in 1916. Although some of this class continued working...




					mikemorant.smugmug.com


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## CH1 (Mar 29, 2021)

teuchter said:


> The now long disused northern pair of platforms at Brixton station, in the 1920s. NB in the background the overhead electrification still present on the high level line.
> 
> View attachment 260666
> 
> ...


Is anybody in a position to explain exactly where this is? To me the disused northern platforms suggests the line running along Brixton Station Road. I'm wondering if this picture is some sort of mirror image. Generally trains run on the left hand side like cars - and the view shows the electrified upper level line to the right hand side.

So the train seems to be going the wrong direction I would say - going west?


----------



## CH1 (Mar 29, 2021)

I was shocked yesterday to hear than Kim and Aggie the Channel 4 cleaners and de-clutterers had a bust up in 2009 and haven't spoken since. I wonder what they would have made of this old Brixton Society newsletter from 1987. "This paper has been behind this sofa for THIRTY THREE YEARS!!"

A am posting this to bring up a couple of points:
1. Market canopy plan in doubt (obviously some people believed the Electric Avenue canopy was being renovated in 1987)  
2. Page two (available on request) had an article plugging a meeting of the Camberwell Society and the South London Line users group. They were advocating for a service between Clapham Junction/Victoria and Abbey Wood - featuring an new high-level interchange for Brixton. Not quite what we got - maybe by 2087?


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## Jimbeau (Mar 29, 2021)

CH1 said:


> Is anybody in a position to explain exactly where this is? To me the disused northern platforms suggests the line running along Brixton Station Road. I'm wondering if this picture is some sort of mirror image. Generally trains run on the left hand side like cars - and the view shows the electrified upper level line to the right hand side.
> 
> So the train seems to be going the wrong direction I would say - going west?


Definitely Brixton Station Road. Part of the old footbridge/steps to the street on the extreme left, then the ends of the houses on Popes Road and Valentia Road, withe the roofscape of the grand villas on Canterbury Road behind them. You can also see the curved wooden roofs of the coal depot on the RHS.


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## CH1 (Mar 29, 2021)

Jimbeau said:


> Definitely Brixton Station Road. Part of the old footbridge/steps to the street on the extreme left, then the ends of the houses on Popes Road and Valentia Road, withe the roofscape of the grand villas on Canterbury Road behind them. You can also see the curved wooden roofs of the coal depot on the RHS.


This seems to imply two-way working on the line. Is the tall building on the left in the distance the Fire Station?


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## teuchter (Mar 29, 2021)

The train is on the west-bound line and running on the "left hand side". You can see the east-bound line just beyond it (it's partly hidden by the bridge girder that is sticking up between the two running lines closer to the camera).

Circled in red below is that same bridge girder in a today-ish view


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 29, 2021)

or in map form, i make it that loco is about here and is heading west / up / towards victoria



from 1895 OS map

I'd need to go and look it up (and I'm on a shortish break from work) but those platforms closed to passenger traffic some time round the 1914 war - the SECR withdrew a few of its inner suburban services and closed stations, partly as a wartime economy measure, but also because the inner suburban traffic had been hammered by cheap and frequent electric trams (which the management had seen as a short term fad - oops) and demographic changes (middle class commuters gradually moving to what were then the outer suburbs)


----------



## teuchter (Mar 29, 2021)

Discussed here recently too.

It's frustrating that the camera isn't looking a bit more to the right as it might have recorded the status of the original station building at that point in time.


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## Jimbeau (Mar 29, 2021)

CH1 said:


> This seems to imply two-way working on the line. Is the tall building on the left in the distance the Fire Station?


Yes - it is the fire station in the far distance. Built 1905.


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## editor (Mar 31, 2021)

Where exactly do you reckon this pic was taken?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 1, 2021)

editor said:


> Where exactly do you reckon this pic was taken?



photographer is looking north, standing at the junction of Gresham Road.

About here, before the current shops were built on the west side of the road - they look 1920s or maybe even 30s.

1895 OS map here showing a single track tram line running east - west from Gresham Road to Stockwell Road, from the photo looks like this hadn't been electrified yet (that happened in 1908).

What's now Our Lady of Rosary Church was then Brixton Independent Church, and was heavily rebuilt after damage in 1939-45.  Pictures of the original structure here.

Tram 149 was a London County Council B class car (similar to 106 which lives at Crich) in original form with 'reversed' staircase and then only fitted for conduit operation, and would have been running from the 'Telford Avenue' depot at Streatham Hill (rebuilt for buses c. 1950 and now Arriva's Brixton garage.)

Photo probably not that long after the former cable tram route was electrified in 1904 - the 'route branding' (as in painting points along the line of route) round the front panel didn't last long as more routes opened - it's a pain in the tail keeping 'route branded' vehicles on the correct route...

Three lights can be seen just above the 'Streatham' destination display - these would show a combination of colours by night to identify which route the tram was taking - the LCC abandoned this and introduced service numbers instead.

ETA - and the tram driver is probably saying (or at least thinking) something rude about the bus driver who has stopped on a tram stop - buses came to having fixed stopping places later than trams...


----------



## lang rabbie (Apr 1, 2021)

editor said:


> Where exactly do you reckon this pic was taken?
> 
> View attachment 261203


Location is as Puddy_Tat said.  
A lot of "coloured" postcards of that era have buildings wrongly coloured to look as though they are red brick, when they are actually stucco that came out grey on the original photograph like the two tall terraces in this picture.  
This was probably to improve the contrast/attractiveness of the card.


----------



## Ol Nick (Apr 1, 2021)

editor said:


> Where exactly do you reckon this pic was taken?
> 
> View attachment 261203


Saint Petersburg, 1915?


----------



## CH1 (Apr 1, 2021)

Ol Nick said:


> Saint Petersburg, 1915?


It's a shame abut the demise of that terrace replaced by the Gas Board and Ram Jam club.
What happened there? Was it a case of inter-war slum clearance? Seems likely the new parade of shops and flats would be roughly contemporary with the Astoria?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 2, 2021)

lang rabbie said:


> A lot of "coloured" postcards of that era have buildings wrongly coloured to look as though they are red brick, when they are actually stucco that came out grey on the original photograph like the two tall terraces in this picture.



I tend to treat colourised b+w photos with a bit of caution. 



CH1 said:


> It's a shame abut the demise of that terrace replaced by the Gas Board and Ram Jam club.
> What happened there? Was it a case of inter-war slum clearance? Seems likely the new parade of shops and flats would be roughly contemporary with the Astoria?



not been able to come up with much for that.

1916 OS map shows what looks like the terrace of houses, the 1919 map that the WW2 bomb damage map is based on seems to show current buildings.

390 - 394 was a Burton's in the 1959 phone book (for some reason, they don't seem to be listed pre 1945) and the shop has the usual burton's foundation stone thing - this apparently says 1927 (although it's possible that the art deco style frontage was grafted on to a slightly older block - some of woolworths '1930s' buildings are like that.)



1919 london suburbs directory shows this block in commercial use, but not clear if this was the old or new buildings (mostly seems to be office type trades, which can be carried out from converted houses, rather than shops as such)



1934 shows it's clearly shops (including Burton's, complete with the billiard hall that was often upstairs) by then



from the 1904-ish photo, the terrace doesn't look particularly slummy, although there would have been places around that looked ok from a distance but not closer to. 

may simply have been that whoever owned it realised there was more money in shops than in offices in old houses by then, with the market for middle class houses in brixton diminishing from possibly before the 1914 war, as the outer suburbs grew...


----------



## felonius monk (Apr 2, 2021)

The billiard rooms at 390 (presumably upstairs) became the Ram Jam Club and then the Fridge.


----------



## CH1 (Apr 2, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> I tend to treat colourised b+w photos with a bit of caution.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This is very good work. Fascinating about the Burton's stone.

Re the 1919 South Suburbs directory - are you sure these descriptions are not simply descriptions of the householders?

I remember looking at records of my own house in Coldharbour Lane down at the Minet archives. I was surprised to find in an 1890s director (or was it a census?) that  the top floor of my house was occupied by a pewterer and his wife, whereas the lower levels were occupied by a "dealer in fine art". 

I often worried over the years whether this dealer (who I imagine was not working from home) sold pictures of exposed piano legs - or something worse. You never know with Victorians!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 2, 2021)

CH1 said:


> Re the 1919 South Suburbs directory - are you sure these descriptions are not simply descriptions of the householders?



Generally speaking, where it was just a private householder, the directory just listed a name (as in Thompson at 380, Weston at 386, who I didn't spot at first glance yesterday) - they didn't record what a householder's occupation was like the census did.

People like the dentist, chiropodist, teacher of singing may well have lived in the house and carried out their business from one or two rooms.  The LCC at 402 look like they used the whole place as offices.  The fact there were still some private householders suggests that the earlier houses were still there in 1919.



felonius monk said:


> The billiard rooms at 390 (presumably upstairs) became the Ram Jam Club and then the Fridge.



yes, It was fairly standard for Burtons shops to have a billiards / snooker hall upstairs - there's an article about it on a snooker website here - sounds like it was intentional -  a steady flow of men past the door of the shop was good for business, and something else to fill the first floor meant they could have a bigger and more noticeable building.  

the burtons' shop in lewisham still has a snooker club upstairs, even though burtons moved in to the shopping centre some time ago.


----------



## editor (Apr 3, 2021)

On Brixton Road by Electric Avenue.


----------



## Ol Nick (Apr 3, 2021)

editor said:


> View attachment 261463
> 
> On Brixton Road by Electric Avenue.


I love it. Here’s the Wikipedia article for the boxer and recruiter Pat O’Keefe mentioned on the poster.









						Pat O'Keeffe - Wikipedia
					






					en.m.wikipedia.org


----------



## lang rabbie (Apr 5, 2021)

lang rabbie said:


> A lot of "coloured" postcards of that era have buildings wrongly coloured to look as though they are red brick, when they are actually stucco that came out grey on the original photograph like the two tall terraces in this picture.
> This was probably to improve the contrast/attractiveness of the card.


Apologies Angell Terrace on the east side is of course still brick with stucco dressings, but even back in the days of soot, the white brick did not look anything like red brick would.


----------



## Finney (Apr 11, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on teh tweeter today
> 
> 
> 
> R C Hammett Ltd are listed in 1959 phone book with about 75 branches in London and head office in Smithfield.  They seem to be still in business but looks like only wholesale



Hi, Finney from Somerset a Meat Trade Historian (hobby), Richard Christmas Hammett born in Winkleigh Devon & came to London & opened shops, By the 1930,s he had 35 branches & sold out to Vestey/Dewhurst,, They ran with his name & by the 1970,s they had a 100 Hammetts in the London area, Sadly by 1995 Dewhurst dissolved,


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 11, 2021)

flashbak has a collection of 1950s / 60s Lambeth photos and year 2000 views of the same spots.


----------



## editor (Apr 16, 2021)

Twenty years ago 



















						Brixton archive photos: wet streets, Granville Arcade and the lost J-Bar, April 2001
					

We’ll be the first to admit that some of these photos are a bit ropey, but they still might be of some interest as they feature scenes taken around Brixton twenty years ago, back in April 200…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## Barkshire1970 (Apr 17, 2021)

editor said:


> Do you want to write the piece?


William Robert Barkshire is my Great Grandad!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Apr 30, 2021)

editor said:


> Love this pic outside the old George IV. I was going to write a piece for Buzz but thought I'd better give @Puddy_Tat first dibs on writing the text!



oh heck, was it really that long ago?

the picture has come up somewhere else and someone is asking for info, and mum-tat has asked me.

i guess if we're quick, i could do the bit for Brixton Buzz and refer to that...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 4, 2021)

(colourised b+w photo)

Gresham Road change pit - Google Maps 

not quite sure just what's going on - putting the trolley pole up did not usually involve climbing on the back fender, the conductor doesn't look impressed and the plough-shifter clearly isn't having anything to do with it...


----------



## editor (May 6, 2021)

editor said:


> View attachment 215440
> 
> Love this pic outside the old George IV.  I was going to write a piece for Buzz but thought I'd better give Puddy_Tat  first dibs on writing the text!


And here's the full article: Brixton history – cable-hauled tram on Brixton Hill in late Victorian times

Thanks again Puddy_Tat


----------



## editor (May 6, 2021)

May have been posted before, but here's the Brixton Change Pit


----------



## editor (May 6, 2021)

1945;


----------



## CH1 (May 6, 2021)

editor said:


> 1945;
> 
> View attachment 266972


That odd power station  by the Loughborough Junction station looks in better nick than now. Wonder why they provided brick rebates like church windows? 
I doubt railway companies have such sensibilities these days.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 10, 2021)

on flickr today, everyday photo of vauxhall viva, routemaster on the 159, and 1950s BR suburban units on the railway bridge from 1987


----------



## teuchter (May 10, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today, everyday photo of vauxhall viva, routemaster on the 159, and 1950s BR suburban units on the railway bridge from 1987



The railway bridge pre-replacement with the modern, welded steel one too!


----------



## happyshopper (May 11, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today, everyday photo of vauxhall viva, routemaster on the 159, and 1950s BR suburban units on the railway bridge from 1987



I miss Robell’s


----------



## CH1 (May 12, 2021)

Is anyone else on here old enough to remember "The Bon"?
Had a discount record bar selling deletions for 50p and a popular canteen whose stools were firmly screwed to the floor.
I moved to Brixton in 1978 - The Bon was vibrant at that time, but I think it died the death by 1982.


----------



## Voley (May 16, 2021)

Flashback have some good 80s Brixton photos here:









						A Walk Around Brixton in The 1980s - Flashbak
					

We’re on a walking tour of 1980s Brixton in South London in the company of Peter Marshall. Gentrification has changed the faces and the shops. But many buildings remain unchanged. The photographs are black and white, and colour. They show us the stuff we remember but never thought to photograph...




					flashbak.com
				




Fields Of The Nephilim were on at The Academy. Quite a big gig for them, that. I'd forgotten how popular they were.


----------



## CH1 (May 22, 2021)

Remember Gordon Petrie - the incredible hulk sized licensee of the George Canning in the early 1980s?
Well he was just on Talking Pictures TV
He was a tunnel worker in the 1972 British horror film Death Line.
The plot featured a cannibal zombie lurking in tunnels on the Piccadilly Line round Covent Garden.
Gordon was somewhat of an extra- neither eating nor eaten one might say.
"Mind the Doors" was the film's catch-phrase.

Don't see Death Line listed again on Talking Picture over the next 7 days - but it will probably be back.

Meanwhile keenies can catch a Blu-Ray revamp


Brixton Buzz covered Gordon Petrie in January - but Mike Urban missed the flesh-eating side of the story!
A glimpse into Brixton’s wrestling past, Prince Kumali and the old George Canning pub (now Hootananny)


----------



## BusLanes (May 22, 2021)

CH1 said:


> Remember Gordon Petrie - the incredible hulk sized licensee of the George Canning in the early 1980s?
> Well he was just on Talking Pictures TV
> He was a tunnel worker in the 1972 British horror film Death Line.
> The plot featured a cannibal zombie lurking in tunnels on the Piccadilly Line round Covent Garden.
> ...



Wow, I saw that when I first moved to London (Either on a video or at the Prince Charles). We had an argument for years about whether it was mind the gaps or mind the doors


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 22, 2021)

BusLanes said:


> We had an argument for years about whether it was mind the gaps or mind the doors



i had a similar conversation on tweeter yesterday evening

station staff or train guards on the underground calling 'mind the doors' was the analogue version of the automated 'please stand clear of the closing doors'


----------



## editor (May 22, 2021)

Voley said:


> Flashback have some good 80s Brixton photos here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We supported them once. Before they went on, they all took turns to stand on some newspapers while a woman sprinkled talc over their outfits. Bless.


----------



## BusLanes (May 22, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> i had a similar conversation on tweeter yesterday evening
> 
> station staff or train guards on the underground calling 'mind the doors' was the analogue version of the automated 'please stand clear of the closing doors'



It's funny what sticks in the memory.

I must try and watch it again


----------



## DietCokeGirl (May 23, 2021)

Anyone else's water gone off around SW9/Stockwell Rd?


----------



## RoyReed (May 23, 2021)

DietCokeGirl said:


> Anyone else's water gone off around SW9/Stockwell Rd?


You might not want this in the Brixton History thread.


----------



## CH1 (May 23, 2021)

This was thrust onto my email by Pinterest this morning.
Clearly a drawing rather than a photo it seems to be Brixton Theatre prior to the building of the Electric Cinema - so I guess right in the middle of Edward VII's reign.

Apologies if its been posted up here before.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (May 23, 2021)

CH1 said:


> Clearly a drawing rather than a photo it seems to be Brixton Theatre prior to the building of the Electric Cinema - so I guess right in the middle of Edward VII's reign.





more on brixton theatres and music halls, including some photos of the brixton theatre before the electric 

1916 map showing the theatre and electric pavilion


----------



## editor (Jun 1, 2021)

Love this little van!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 1, 2021)

editor said:


> Love this little van!



found the picture elsewhere - says it's a fordson

looks like a model launched in 1935 - more at 

FINE RANGE OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES AT THE FORD SHOW | 18th October 1935 | The Commercial Motor Archive (the zoom page function is better than the OCR-mangled plain text)

looks like this particular model didn't catch on


----------



## jdillathegreate (Jun 10, 2021)

I've been nursing a hangover today and have looked through this entire thread. Just wanted to say thanks for what an incredible collection of images and stories - utterly fascinating.

I've got two to add - the Brixton Orphanage for Fatherless Girls. It was on Barrington Road just to the left of where Brixton East station was.

The illustration is where the schoolrooms and dormatories were - the grounds have changed but the building remains largely the same and is now 'College Green Court'.

Cheers!


----------



## jdillathegreate (Jun 10, 2021)

jdillathegreate said:


> I've been nursing a hangover today and have looked through this entire thread. Just wanted to say thanks for what an incredible collection of images and stories - utterly fascinating.
> 
> I've got two to add - the Brixton Orphanage for Fatherless Girls. It was on Barrington Road just to the left of where Brixton East station was.
> 
> ...


This is the building today


----------



## editor (Jul 15, 2021)

Ten years ago 

























						Brixton history – 60 photos from July 2011, including pubs, gigs, an eviction party and the Country Show
					

Here’s a selection of photos taken in and around Brixton back in July 2011. Above can be seen the rooftop of Clifton Mansions on Coldharbour Lane during its eviction party.



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## editor (Jul 15, 2021)

Great stuff!


















						The Oxford Street of the South - A Short Fabulous Retail History of Brixton - Flashbak
					

It’s not London’s oldest market – the one at Borough was first mentioned in 1276 and claims to have been in existence since 1014 – but the 150-year-old Brixton Market is certainly one of the best. Over 60 years ago Ian Nairn, the architectural critic, described it as “stalls everywhere, arcades...




					flashbak.com


----------



## editor (Aug 3, 2021)

Interesting Twitter thread here


----------



## editor (Aug 3, 2021)

And here's something we'll never see again:









						Brixton Splash 2015 – archive photographs reveal a jam-packed Brixton
					

I think this may have been the busiest Brixton has ever been, as tens of thousands of people poured into what would the last ever Brixton Splash free street party in August 2015. Here’s 20 ph…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## editor (Aug 31, 2021)

Interesting in-depth piece here 









						This is the Real Brixton Challenge
					

Brixton from the late 1980s… Below we’ve tried to set out some of the changes we’ve seen in Brixton, South London, since the heady days of the early 1980s. In the 1970s and ‘80s the mai…




					pasttenseblog.wordpress.com


----------



## CH1 (Aug 31, 2021)

editor said:


> Interesting in-depth piece here
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Certainly the house opposite me had it's very nice squatters evicted - and was handed over to Black Roof Housing.
I don;t follow the politics of Housing Associations in depth - maybe someone can say who now owns the Black Roof properties?
The link below is perhaps an interesting example of Black Roof as an early adopter of the concept of colonialism in social housing:






						Black Roof told to hand over its assets
					

A housing association that compared Housing Corporation officials to ‘colonial governors'...




					www.insidehousing.co.uk


----------



## Rushy (Sep 1, 2021)

Been meaning to put these up for a while. A handful of business cards which I found under the floorboards in my kitchen about 20yrs ago.


----------



## ricbake (Sep 1, 2021)

It's been quite some considerable time since anyone around Brixton *respectfully begged the favour of anyone's commands*!!!!!!!


----------



## CH1 (Sep 17, 2021)

I was sent this alarming TV news clip from the 1978 Lambeth Central by-election.
Looks like it's Martin Webster marshaling people into a National Front election meeting in Loughborough School.
Rather hairy - this is where I've voted for the last 35 years.
You can see from the clip that the SWP took a very hands-on approach in those days.
The election result was as follows:

PartyCandidateVotesLabourJohn Tilley10,311ConservativeJeremy Hanley7,170National FrontHelena Steven1,291LiberalDavid Blunt1,104

also rather alarming.  I can't really comment on local factors as I was living in Merton then and only moved to Brixton in November 1978.


----------



## peterkro (Sep 17, 2021)

CH1 said:


> I was sent this alarming TV news clip from the 1978 Lambeth Central by-election.
> Looks like it's Martin Webster marshaling people into a National Front election meeting in Loughborough School.
> Rather hairy - this is where I've voted for the last 35 years.
> You can see from the clip that the SWP took a very hands-on approach in those days.
> ...



I was there along with quite a few other Villa road squatters, they were chased off eventually.


----------



## cresconius (Sep 21, 2021)

I have these old photos of Cormont Road School. I am presuming this is Saint Gabriel’s College, which later became the 1st London General Hospital and is now sitting desolate as another local white elephant.

However, I can find limited evidence it was ever called Cormont Road School. Is there anywhere online I could look or would I need to delve deeper into the archives. 

There seem to be no other suitable locations where these could be from so I am fairly confident this is the right place.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 21, 2021)

cresconius said:


> However, I can find limited evidence it was ever called Cormont Road School. Is there anywhere online I could look or would I need to delve deeper into the archives.



web search on "cormont road school" gets a few results but also haven't found anything definitive.

photo of the group of schoolmasters feels pre 1914 (or possibly a few years after 1918 if they were a really old fashioned bunch), photo of (class?) E8 looks more 1950s.

I have a 1957 Lambeth Borough guide book.   Schools were run by the London County Council not the boroughs, so it doesn't list individual schools, but there is a mention of the Robert Browning Men's (Junior) Institute at Cormont School, SE5.  Don't think I have anything LCC to hand that lists individual schools.

It was not unknown for the LCC to change the purpose and name of school buildings depending on population changes, opening / closing of other schools (and emergency arrangements following bomb damage) and after 1945 if particular sites got re-developed.  The primary school I went to (in Lewisham) had been built as a secondary school and changed both name and status later.  

Also was not unknown for LCC to have two (administratively) separate schools on the same site - I can find a suggestion (again in the case of my old primary school) that at one point one building was primary and another secondary (one was an adult education centre when I was there, but think both are now used by the primary school.)  Also, one school could have two sites.

1911 London suburbs directory for Cormont Road - 



think the 'LCC School' and St Gabriel's College may be two separate entries - they seem to be 2 separate buildings (1914 OS map here) and a couple of things I've found online may be confusing the two. OS maps from pre-1914 and early 50's just show 'school' rather than a school name.

no mention of either in the 1919 version (the latest currently in public domain) but found a reference to the building (or one of them) being used by the war office in (and presumably for a short while after) the 1914-18 war

1951 phone book (these are on 'Ancestry', and my local library allows remote access) muddies the water further 



There was a school building (site since redeveloped) in the middle of the triangle formed by Cormont Road, Halsmere Road and Calais Street (1950-ish OS map here) -

1919 London Suburbs Directory lists this under Halsmere Road (not Flodden Road) as Kennington Secondary School for Girls - it may be that the site of the house shown as 'ruin' (probably bomb damage) on the 1950 map was bought by the LCC to form a new entrance off Flodden Road.


----------



## cresconius (Sep 21, 2021)

That is good there is evidence of a Cormont Road School.

I didn’t realise there was a school in the Halsmere-Flodden-Calais triangle and it would be strange to call it Cormont Road School. But the listing of the school at Flodden Road does muddy the waters as Flodden and Cormont do not bisect.

I actually said the school was the site of the old Saint Gabriels College although I didn’t realise that the sites were separate but that looks obviously to be the case. I will assume that this is the current dilapidated site then.

Amazing information- thanks.


----------



## Casaubon (Sep 22, 2021)

cresconius said:


> That is good there is evidence of a Cormont Road School.
> 
> I didn’t realise there was a school in the Halsmere-Flodden-Calais triangle and it would be strange to call it Cormont Road School. But the listing of the school at Flodden Road does muddy the waters as Flodden and Cormont do not bisect.
> 
> ...


Is this of any interest?

*Charles Edward Brooke School, Cormont Road*

The original building, built in 1897 for the London School Board, consisted of a 3-storey central block with a 6-storey tower on each side.  It was extended in 1912.  The girls' entrance was in front of the left-hand block (left), while the boys' was on the right-hand side (right). As neighbour to the First London General Hospital in St Gabriel's College during the First World War, Cormont Secondary School was prepared for convalescent cases, but the building had no bathrooms and these had to be added. The 3-storey building housed 100 beds on each floor. After the war the Cormont Secondary School became the Kennington Boys School, an annexe of the Kennington Secondary School.








						Charles Edward Brooke School, Cormont... © Robin Stott cc-by-sa/2.0
					

The original building, built in 1897 for the London School Board, consisted of a 3-storey central block with a 6-storey tower on each side.  It was extended in 1912.  The girls' entrance was in front of the left-hand block (left), while the boys' was on the right-hand side (right). As neighbour...




					www.geograph.org.uk


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 22, 2021)

cresconius said:


> That is good there is evidence of a Cormont Road School.



probably stating the obvious, but if you do want to dig further, the London Metropolitan Archive is home to the London County Council / GLC / ILEA archive


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 22, 2021)

couple of brixton trams on Flickr today

Effra Road at what's now Windrush Square -




Milkwood Road -


----------



## editor (Sep 23, 2021)

Brixton views from 15 years ago







Brixton Market views from September 2006


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 26, 2021)

and today's - junction of Poplar (Walk) Road / Lowden Road

presume due to narrow streets, trams had a one way system, north via Milkwood Road, south via Poplar Walk Road / Lowden Road


----------



## blossie33 (Sep 28, 2021)

Saw this today and thought of this thread - apologies if it's been posted before - too many pages to look through!


----------



## teuchter (Sep 28, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> and today's - junction of Poplar (Walk) Road / Lowden Road
> 
> presume due to narrow streets, trams had a one way system, north via Milkwood Road, south via Poplar Walk Road / Lowden Road



It's the tram route that was scandalously never replaced with a bus route!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 28, 2021)

teuchter said:


> It's the tram route that was scandalously never replaced with a bus route!



umm - tram 48 became bus 48 in 1952 (although without the one way system arrangement) 

The Herne Hill end got tacked on to various incarnations of routes 42 and 40 and disappeared at some point in the mid 60s


----------



## teuchter (Sep 28, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> umm - tram 48 became bus 48 in 1952 (although without the one way system arrangement)
> 
> The Herne Hill end got tacked on to various incarnations of routes 42 and 40 and disappeared at some point in the mid 60s


Yes, I should have said scandalously not retained as a bus route - it only seems to have lasted a few years (1952-58?). It looks like the 40 and 42 routes ran from Herne Hill to Camberwell via Denmark Hill instead.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 28, 2021)

teuchter said:


> Yes, I should have said scandalously not retained as a bus route - it only seems to have lasted a few years (1952-58?). It looks like the 40 and 42 routes ran from Herne Hill to Camberwell via Denmark Hill instead.



think the 42 ran via Milkwood Road on Mon - Fri until 1966, and the 40B on Saturdays (London Transport used to enjoy that sort of thing)

ETA - can't find any specific reference to why this bit of route came off, but December 1966 had a batch of bus service changes (broadly involving reductions) - London Transport implemented the 5 day week for bus crews around then, and was perennially short of staff.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 3, 2021)

today's tram porn



1938-ish in Streatham Hill 'Telford Avenue' depot (the site that's now the 1950s built bus garage, not the Brixton Hill site that's still obviously an ex tram depot)

Six of the trams are the 'Feltham' type, introduced in the early 30s in north and west london - they were bigger and better than earlier generations of tram, had new features like air brakes, saloon heaters (not something that started getting fitted to london buses until the late 50s) and so on.  they could do close to 50 mph on an open road.

They were displaced by trolleybus conversion and ended up on the Streatham / Brixton routes because the depots needed less work doing to make them fit than any other depot on the network.

Tram at left of picture was a one-off, the London County Council's 1930's prototype for a new fleet which never happened.


----------



## happyshopper (Oct 4, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> today's tram porn



Thanks. There’s another Brixton picture close by in the Flicker stream I haven’t see before here.


----------



## teuchter (Oct 4, 2021)

happyshopper said:


> Thanks. There’s another Brixton picture close by in the Flicker stream I haven’t see before here.


Posted by Puddy_Tat a couple of weeks ago upthread!


----------



## editor (Oct 28, 2021)

This looks interesting London Transport’s Caribbean Workforce exhibition to open at London Transport Museum in February 2022


----------



## brixtonscot (Oct 29, 2021)

CH1 said:


> I was sent this alarming TV news clip from the 1978 Lambeth Central by-election.
> Looks like it's Martin Webster marshaling people into a National Front election meeting in Loughborough School.
> Rather hairy - this is where I've voted for the last 35 years.
> You can see from the clip that the SWP took a very hands-on approach in those days.
> ...



Interesting candidates in bye election...
".....several far left groups organised in the area stood in the hope of combating the National Front and raising their own profiles. Actor Corin Redgrave stood for the Workers Revolutionary Party, while the Socialist Unity coalition and Socialist Party of Great Britain also stood, while the Socialist Workers Party stood in the name of their publication _Flame - Black Workers Paper For Self Defence_."





						1978 Lambeth Central by-election - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				



The Socialist Unity candidate , John Chase , was from Black group Brixton & Croydon Collective , which Big Flame ( not SWP Flame ) had links with.








						1978-socialist-unity-lambeth
					

1978 Socialist Unity meeting in Brixton. Lloyd from the Brixton and Croydon collective speaking.




					radical-lambeth.org


----------



## Judy B (Nov 13, 2021)

editor said:


> That's ace. If I get a few moments, I may do a little history piece on Buzz based on that colourised pic.
> *gets ready to start researching


The John Myland in the photo was a French Polisher Indeed Mylands is stilll going now in a second site in West Norwood purpose built  - I used to use them loads in my cabinet amking and carpentry days.









						The History of Mylands
					

The Company’s founder John Charles Francis Myland (1860-1932).  John Started life as an apprentice French polisher, in the late 1870s.  After a few years he started selling supplies to other …




					mylandsoflondon.wordpress.com


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 27, 2021)

today's brixton tram



shop still carries 'tusons corner' sign, but no longer tuson's (street view here)


----------



## friendofdorothy (Nov 27, 2021)

Any idea when that is from? - I had thought that those flats were from the 50s or are they prewar? - when did trams go out of use?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 27, 2021)

friendofdorothy said:


> Any idea when that is from? - I had thought that those flats were from the 50s or are they prewar? - when did trams go out of use?



photo is 1948 or after from one or two of the details on the tram.  

Tram 16 / 18 became bus 109 in April 1951, the last trams through Brixton (on Kingsway Subway service 33) were April 1952, London's last trams (on the central London - Woolwich area routes) were July 1952.

I can find a reference that Dumbarton Court was built 1939, and a photo of it under construction dated 1937.


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 27, 2021)

friendofdorothy said:


> Any idea when that is from? - I had thought that those flats were from the 50s or are they prewar? - when did trams go out of use?


Dumbarton Court - Modern Movement building built to a design by Couch & Coupland completed in 1939.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Nov 27, 2021)

thanks - looking again, I had forgotten the deco curves on those flats. trees obscure the veiw now.  Love the ads on the photo.


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 27, 2021)

Her's a photo of the building under construction in 1937.









						Dumbarton Court on Brixton Hill
					

Dumbarton Court flats, Brixton Hill, Brixton, with scaffolding in the process of construction. It was later acquired by the Lambeth Borough Council in 1959 and significant alterations and part demolition occurred on the site. The exterior shell has largely been maintained. Adverts that appear on...




					www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk


----------



## friendofdorothy (Nov 27, 2021)

RoyReed said:


> Her's a photo of the building under construction in 1937.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Puddy_Tat  beat you to it. great photo. the ads are great


----------



## RoyReed (Nov 27, 2021)

Yeah, he must have posted while I was looking stuff up. I'll have to be quicker next time.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 27, 2021)

friendofdorothy said:


> the ads are great



there appears to have been an Empire Tea Market Expansion Bureau







from here


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 1, 2021)

past tense has a blog post today about smuggling in to the London area in the 1700s - mentions Stockwell as being "a smugglers village" at the time.


----------



## lang rabbie (Dec 3, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> past tense has a blog post today about smuggling in to the London area in the 1700s - mentions Stockwell as being "a smugglers village" at the time.


Not just gin and brandy that was being smuggled as contraband:

*Stockwell: The centre of tea smuggling in the 18th Century*






_The Swan Public House, Stockwell in the 1780s. Image courtesy of London Borough of Lambeth: archives department_
Can you imagine a tax on a cuppa – our most sacred drink?

Tea used to be highly taxed, running at 119 per cent of the price of the goods. But who would think of attacking our national drink? None other than the merry monarch, King Charles II. Fearful of the political intrigues that took place when people met in the beverage houses of London to drink tea and coffee, the government of the day decided a tax would prevent this. So in 1676, the humble cup of tea felt the heavy hand of the taxman. However, the people loved the drink. No tax would stop the sipping of a cup of tea. A black market in the leaf soon developed and bootlegging became a part of everyday trading.

Tea was so popular that big money could be made illegally, while pretending it was free trading. By the early 18th century the smuggling of tea into the country had become big business.

Much of it came from Holland and was distributed from the south coast of England along a network of secret routes to the main market in the capital. The smuggling involved hundreds of people, usually organised in gangs. Ruthless in their pursuit of profit, all opposition to their smuggling was normally met with violence.

Naturally London was the biggest market. With its fashionable and wealthy society, it was the centre of the official tea trade. But many of these dealers were not above working with the smugglers, meeting with them secretly in Lambeth at the small village of Stockwell to strike deals. Here among the cottages lay a number of warehouses, owned or leased by the smuggling gangs, where tea was stored awaiting the dealers. The smugglers’ route to Stockwell ran across Clapham Common, then a wild and unfriendly place and, on a Thursday in 1743, Custom and Excise officers were tipped off about a gang that would be crossing the common with horses loaded with tea.

The armed revenue men lay in wait to ambush the gang. The smugglers – said to number more than 20 – arrived and stood their ground when confronted by the revenue men. Outnumbered, the officers retreated as the smugglers fired their guns and moved on with their contraband, cheering as they went.

The smuggling of tea into London continued until the mid-18th century when the tax was dropped to popular acclaim. It established the cuppa as our national drink.









						Stockwell History
					

Stockwell has a long and fascinating history. See our Links page for suggestions of good history sites to visit. History Shorts A short history of Stockwell by Jim Nicolson c1285 The manor of South…




					www.stockwell.org.uk


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 10, 2021)

on flickr today

not sure just quite what;s going on / when


----------



## lang rabbie (Dec 11, 2021)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today
> 
> not sure just quite what;s going on / when



The copy of this (uncredited) photo in Lambeth Archives is described as

"Lambeth Carnival, 1961. The parade of floats moving south down Effra Road, seen here crossing Rushford Road. The Esso petrol station and the Orange Luxury Coach garage next to it have since been demolished."



			https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/lambeth-carnival-effra-road-brixton-central-9/


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## felonius monk (Dec 11, 2021)

Rushcroft Road surely, or was there a change of name?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 19, 2021)

on tweeter today


----------



## lang rabbie (Dec 27, 2021)

felonius monk said:


> Rushcroft Road surely, or was there a change of name?


You are right. It is one of an awful lot of typos in both the original records and the digitisation of the images on the former "Lambeth Landmark" database of the archives collection that makes online searching more random than it should be!


----------



## editor (Jan 4, 2022)

Worth a repost

























						A Photographic Tour of Brixton, London in the 1980s by Peter Marshall
					

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth. It's one of 35 major centers in Greater London. With a large Afro-Caribbean population, Brixton is primarily residential with a prominent street market.




					www.bygonely.com


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## blossie33 (Jan 4, 2022)

Great photos!


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## Jules66 (Jan 7, 2022)

In the recently released 1921 Census, my Great Grandfather is listed as the Manager of the Brixton BMG (or BMC) Garage, which I believe was a Taxi Company. Anyone know where this may have been located in Brixton or have any history on the company. He appears to have been a proprietor of the company. Any assistance would be gratefully received.


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## teuchter (Jan 7, 2022)

Jules66 said:


> In the recently released 1921 Census, my Great Grandfather is listed as the Manager of the Brixton BMG (or BMC) Garage, which I believe was a Taxi Company. Anyone know where this may have been located in Brixton or have any history on the company. He appears to have been a proprietor of the company. Any assistance would be gratefully received.
> 
> View attachment 304908


This one?









						Pickets outside the British Motor Cab Company's garage at Brixton,...
					

Pickets outside the British Motor Cab Company's garage at Brixton, London, during the taxi cab drivers' strike.



					www.gettyimages.ae


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## Jules66 (Jan 7, 2022)

teuchter said:


> This one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Many thanks, excellent. Just found this one from 1905 when it was the General Motor Cab Company. I wonder where this was?


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## Jules66 (Jan 7, 2022)

Jules66 said:


> Many thanks, excellent. Just found this one from 1905 when it was the General Motor Cab Company. I wonder where this was?
> 
> View attachment 304918


GENERAL MOTOR CAB COMPANY, BRIXTON ROAD, BRIXTON NORTH - Landmark Getting somewhere now.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 7, 2022)

Jules66 said:


> Many thanks, excellent. Just found this one from 1905 when it was the General Motor Cab Company. I wonder where this was?



i'm on the move at the moment so can't do searching etc, but if it's the place i think, it's right at the north end of brixton road, on the east side, just before it reaches the kennington junction.


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## Jules66 (Jan 7, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> i'm on the move at the moment so can't do searching etc, but if it's the place i think, it's right at the north end of brixton road, on the east side, just before it reaches the kennington junction.


Yes, found it on old maps and have seen it on google maps. Much of it is still there. Thanks, that answers my question perfectly.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 7, 2022)

more here






						Taxis in Lambeth – Vauxhall History
					






					vauxhallhistory.org


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## editor (Jan 9, 2022)

Brixton celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 1897


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 13, 2022)

editor said:


> Brixton celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 1897



hmm.  

the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (technically joint management rather than a legal merger) didn't happen until 1899.  Would still have been the London Chatham and Dover in 1897.

Wonder what they were celebrating?  King Edward VII's coronation?  End of the Boer War?


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 13, 2022)

on flickr today, tram on Coldharbour Lane at Gresham Road junction (somewhere between 1945 - 50, tram 34 became bus 45.)


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## nick (Jan 13, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today, tram on Coldharbour Lane at Gresham Road junction (somewhere between 1945 - 50, tram 34 became bus 45.)



Have never had Military Pickle (apparently it ceased in 1996) - I wonder what it tasted like, and if it was really "better than a salad"?
Perhaps it was killed off by the Advertising Standards people?


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 13, 2022)

nick said:


> Have never had Military Pickle (apparently it ceased in 1996) - I wonder what it tasted like, and if it was really "better than a salad"?



Out of curiosity, I have done a bit of research - I also managed to avoid it.



			Foods of England - Military Pickle
		


and 






						Hayward Brothers - Graces Guide
					






					www.gracesguide.co.uk
				




have more.  I'm not sure we missed much.

it was made in South London (Kennington) - The 'pickle works' is marked on Montford Place on the 1951 OS Map

Production got moved to Bury St Edmunds in the mid 50s, and the works is now home to Beefeater Gin.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 16, 2022)

P4 bus when it was little


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 30, 2022)

on flickr today



think it's taken from the platform at brixton station, facing east-ish, with what's now (or until recently?) sports direct (looks like you're not allowed to park on the roof any more) and brixton fire station practice tower at centre of picture


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## teuchter (Jan 30, 2022)

That's right, and you can see the tower of the salvation army hq at Denmark Hill in the distance. And a bit of the Loughborough estate blocks at far left.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 30, 2022)

teuchter said:


> That's right, and you can see the tower of the salvation army hq at Denmark Hill in the distance. And a bit of the Loughborough estate blocks at far left.





and looks like a chimney or something above 4th / 5th carriages - can't place that.

(i did go up the salvation army tower one london open house weekend a few years back - the weather was dismal so not that much of a view  )


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## teuchter (Jan 30, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> and looks like a chimney or something above 4th / 5th carriages - can't place that.


Kings Hospital.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jan 30, 2022)

teuchter said:


> Kings Hospital.



of course...

 at me


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## CH1 (Jan 31, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> on flickr today
> 
> 
> 
> think it's taken from the platform at brixton station, facing east-ish, with what's now (or until recently?) sports direct (looks like you're not allowed to park on the roof any more) and brixton fire station practice tower at centre of picture



That was when it was Tesco - look at the Green Shield Stamps banners. (Double stamps on Friday for some reason)


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 5, 2022)

yesterday's tram picture

somewhere on brixton hill, somewhere 1947 - 51, before much of the east side got redeveloped


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## editor (Feb 7, 2022)

Here's an ebay curiosity


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## editor (Feb 8, 2022)

Pope's Road, 1959.
To the left are some coal offices and a café ('Drink Pepsi Cola today') while behind you can see houses where Pop Brixton now stands, and in the distance, the top of the Canterbury Arms. 

In the foreground are fruit and veg stalls, including C & J Ball, 'noted for quality and quantiry'


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## felonius monk (Feb 8, 2022)

That cafe is where Tesco opened in 1966 (and later became Kwik Save when they moved to Acre Lane). Tesco had a store in Station Road as early as 1940, according to a crime report in the Norwood News in May 1940. I assume that closed when the superstore opened.


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 11, 2022)




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## CH1 (Feb 12, 2022)

felonius monk said:


> That cafe is where Tesco opened in 1966 (and later became Kwik Save when they moved to Acre Lane). Tesco had a store in Station Road as early as 1940, according to a crime report in the Norwood News in May 1940. I assume that closed when the superstore opened.


Just like to comment that there was a 7 year gap where the premises stood empty after Tescos removed to Acre Lane.
It was thought at the time that Tescos had some sort of agreement to prevent another food supermarket on that site to allow the Acre Lane store to establish it's trade.

I think on research you will find that Tesco closed in Popes Road in 1986 and Kwik Save opened there in 1993.  Kwik Save then closed their Brixton Road store (currently Brixton Cycles) at 296-298 Brixton Road.

Ironically the 296-298 Brixton Road premises had been "Victor Value" and also Fine Fare. Victor Value closed some time in the early 1980s when the chain was acquired by Tescos (and the Brixton branch shut). Its all a bit like musical chairs.


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## editor (Feb 15, 2022)

Pre-Cooltan, Coldharbour Lane, 1960s


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## JenniBrown (Feb 22, 2022)

cresconius said:


> I have these old photos of Cormont Road School. I am presuming this is Saint Gabriel’s College, which later became the 1st London General Hospital and is now sitting desolate as another local white elephant.
> 
> However, I can find limited evidence it was ever called Cormont Road School. Is there anywhere online I could look or would I need to delve deeper into the archives.
> 
> ...




Cormont secondary modern school merged with Loughborough Central school in 1959*/ 1960* and moved into the brand new Stockwell Manor comprehensive school on Stockwell road. I was 13 at the time and was a pupil at Loughborough.


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## JenniBrown (Feb 22, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> found another chunk of 'ancestry' on local council's website and think i've got it
> 
> from 1920 kelly's brixton and clapham directory -
> 
> ...



A  thread resurrection:

In 1947 the dairy was on the south side of Treherne road, corner with Elliot road.  There were no other shops on that side of Elliot road down to Lothian Road until you got to the corner of Lothian road and Elliot road where Rolf's the grocers were. Horrible man, he was always trying to get me into trouble


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 24, 2022)

it obviously took a while for the old 'watch' to be fully replaced by the police


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## Rushy (Feb 26, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> it obviously took a while for the old 'watch' to be fully replaced by the police





Currently yours for $3.99 ...


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 26, 2022)

Rushy said:


> Currently yours for $3.99 ...



hmm, thanks.

think i can live without...


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## CH1 (Feb 27, 2022)

Query/request.

Anyone seen pictures of Michael Tippett's Festival of Youth staged at Brockwell Park near the Lido in 1939.
Nothing like this in Lambeth's archive (according to my contact at South London News), and also the indefatigable Ron Higgs has drawn a blank I was wondering about Morely College. They mention the event - which seems to have been held over several days - in their 1939 Annual Report.
I am thinking I may have seen the photo(s) at some show in the gallery next to the college, and this could have been 10 or more years ago. I suppose I could email them. They only put current events on their website.

What I saw was an open-air concert - and I think some sort of floral arch over Brockwell Park Herne Hill gates anouncing what iut was.
Any suggestions?


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## lang rabbie (Feb 27, 2022)

CH1 said:


> Query/request.
> 
> Anyone seen pictures of Michael Tippett's Festival of Youth staged at Brockwell Park near the Lido in 1939.
> Nothing like this in Lambeth's archive (according to my contact at South London News), and also the indefatigable Ron Higgs has drawn a blank I was wondering about Morely College. They mention the event - which seems to have been held over several days - in their 1939 Annual Report.
> ...


The 'Symphony of Youth' - I don't currently have online access to Newspaper Archive but suspect there might be a photo with the contemporary Norwood News article cited in the notes to Oliver Foden's biography of Tippett


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## lang rabbie (Feb 27, 2022)

lang rabbie said:


> The 'Symphony of Youth' - I don't currently have online access to Newspaper Archive but suspect there might be a photo with the contemporary Norwood News article cited in the notes to Oliver Foden's biography of Tippett
> 
> View attachment 312211


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## Puddy_Tat (Feb 27, 2022)

this suggests that (at least some) morley college archives have passed to lambeth borough.

would suggest contacting morley first off, then lambeth (can't find anything in their online archive, but they may not have digitised everything yet)

south london press includes a history / heritage sort of page - may be worth contacting them and see if they want to pick it up / ask if anyone has picture.

might not do any harm to contact friends of brockwell park / brixton society?



lang rabbie said:


> I don't currently have online access to Newspaper Archive but suspect there might be a photo with the contemporary Norwood News article cited in the notes to Oliver Foden's biography of Tippett



you don't need a login to see if something's there and get a thumbnail of the page - looks like just text, though. don't know if local libraries offer full access in branches.


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## Puddy_Tat (Mar 25, 2022)

stretching it slightly, but we don't have a kennington forum



the (bomb damaged) Horns Tavern was opposite Kennington Park Post office (about here)

haven't got the other locations yet, it's late...


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## CH1 (Mar 27, 2022)

The website ReelStreets has an interesting view of Loughborough Junction in 1953 Bot Verification
The army vet gone to the bad Ginger Edwards is here striding away from Loughborough Junction station towards Camberwell - with Loughborough Park Congregational Chapel over the road behind him

Here is the scene today - again from ReelStreets.com who specialise in then and now still shots.
The films is "The Intruder" starring Jack Hawkins


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 2, 2022)

stockwell bus garage is 70 years old today - and an open day planned for 11 June


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## CH1 (Apr 4, 2022)

A 1987 photo of Rayleigh Workshop, Saltoun Road (ex Brixton Liberal Club and ultimately to be Black Cultural Archive (front - with addition) and private bespoke furniture workshop (rear in the modified public assembly hall)
(Peter Marshall on Flickr)


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## editor (Apr 4, 2022)

CH1 said:


> A 1987 photo of Rayleigh Workshop, Saltoun Road (ex Brixton Liberal Club and ultimately to be Black Cultural Archive (front - with addition) and private bespoke furniture workshop (rear in the modified public assembly hall)View attachment 317036
> (Peter Marshall on Flickr)


Pics from the early 2000s:





















						Raleigh Hall, Brixton – scenes of dereliction from the 2000s
					

It’s great to see Raleigh Hall in Windrush Square, Brixton finally coming back to life as the Black Cultural Archives, but for many years the place was a derelict eyesore. Before it became un…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


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## editor (Apr 12, 2022)

Station Road, Brixton, 1973. It wasn't that long ago that the stalls would stretch almost all the way to Valencia Place...
[pic]


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## CH1 (Apr 14, 2022)

Anyone know anything about the Brockwell Park open air theatre? - here shown damaged by a flying bomb 1944

I was interested in the production of a pageant-style event in 1939 in Brockwell Park called "A symphony of Youth" - script by Louis Golding and musical arrangements by Michael Tippett. One source claims Bruce Forsythe was a participant - playing the violin presumably still a schoolboy. Brucie did apparently go to the Italia Conte theatre school - but in  his time it was not in Brixton, but near Conway Hall in Bloomsbury, until bombed out.

Here is a programme for a Gilbert and Sulllivan show from either 1937 or 1943 (Monday 12th July is mentioned)

In the light of this advisory 1943 looks more likely


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 21, 2022)

on tweeter today from lambeth archives


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 21, 2022)

Outline plans for an elevated road from Blackfriars to Brixton, with an extension to the south circular road, complete with roundabout (off flyover?) on coldharbour lane.

Here

(but plans date from the 1937 london highways development survey so don't worry) 

last sold price i can find for a copy of the whole thing is 75 quid.  bugger.


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## teuchter (Apr 21, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Outline plans for an elevated road from Blackfriars to Brixton, with an extension to the south circular road, complete with roundabout (off flyover?) on coldharbour lane.
> 
> Here
> 
> ...


Yikes!

Were they planning to co-opt the railway viaduct from Elephant Walworth Road to Blackfriars, then?


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## Puddy_Tat (Apr 21, 2022)

teuchter said:


> Were they planning to co-opt the railway viaduct from Elephant Walworth Road to Blackfriars, then?



unless i get hold of a copy of the full document, not sure.   possibly alongside, possibly above (ideas as half-baked as that did get floated)


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## Puddy_Tat (May 6, 2022)

from tweeter 






somewhere between 1908 - 1913.


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## CH1 (May 8, 2022)

Has this been on before?  Ballet at the Brockwell Park open air theatre 1947





						Ballet in Brockwell Park
					

Dancers from the Three Arts Ballet stretch and prepare to go on stage. We see the audience of a matinee, inlcuding a woman with a baby in a pram while the dancers perform in classical style costumes. This clip is taken from the film London's Green Heritage, the full description of this title can...




					www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk
				




plus D'Oyly Carte doing "The Gondoliers" at Brockwell Park open air theatre "c1942"


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## CH1 (May 11, 2022)

1982. More Coin Street than Brixton - but rather frightening nevertheless.
Bob Hoskins and Barry Norman wander around the South Bank discussing proposed developments, and how it will destroy the character of the area - which it did and more.
Seems to be from an Omnibus.


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## ska invita (May 12, 2022)

Great website and archive​​

			Brixton Gentrification Struggles 1993-2021: A Timeline


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## TopCat (May 13, 2022)

ska invita said:


> Great website and archive​​
> 
> Brixton Gentrification Struggles 1993-2021: A Timeline


Really enjoyed reading that.


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## CH1 (May 13, 2022)

TopCat said:


> Really enjoyed reading that.


It's interesting. I particularly like the Super 8 Reclaim the Street jugglers from 1998.
I would dispute the analysis of the Atlantic/Dogstar situation - I could write a book about that, and you have to remember people who write Ph.D theses for Royal Holloway University simply weren't there - they are re-framing folk memories with pink tinted lenses. They never wlould have gone to the Atlantic - even the landlord got fed up and set up his own bar and supper-club (probably the first in Brixton with a 2 am licence) called "Mingles"
As for the 1995 Brixton Riot - there was an unmentioned irony there - the Ritzy was showing "La Haine" a French film about insurrection in the Paris banlieue - so many people will have had the experience of emerging from watching a riot in Paris in the Ritzy to a real-life Brixton one outside!


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## nick (May 13, 2022)

CH1 said:


> As for the 1995 Brixton Riot - there was an unmentioned irony there - the Ritzy was showing "La Haine" a French film about insurrection in the Paris banlieue - so many people will have had the experience of emerging from watching a riot in Paris in the Ritzy to a real-life Brixton one outside!


Irrelevant but.....
you sure about that ?
I have a memory (possibly false) of being quickly ushered into the "haven " of the ritzy instead of queuing outside because things were a bit moody that evening. 
We were seeing the Usual Suspects, but left after about 20 minutes as they had the aspect ration wrong (all the cast looked like SlenderMan), and wouldn't/couldn't fix it, so we walked and got a refund.

But maybe that was a different "uprising/Riot/difficulty"?


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## CH1 (May 13, 2022)

nick said:


> Irrelevant but.....
> you sure about that ?
> I have a memory (possibly false) of being quickly ushered into the "haven " of the ritzy instead of queuing outside because things were a bit moody that evening.
> We were seeing the Usual Suspects, but left after about 20 minutes as they had the aspect ration wrong (all the cast looked like SlenderMan), and wouldn't/couldn't fix it, so we walked and got a refund.
> ...


I'm not 100% sure.
I saw La Haine at the Ritzy when it came out.
I also have a recollection of coming back from abroad (Ghana probably) and finding a bit of a wrecked scene in Brixton the day I got back (like 7-11 burnt down).
I have another recollection of a very flamoyant  mental health worker from Lambeth Accord regaling us with a story about coming out of La Haine at the Ritzy with wife and friends and having to seek refuge in the 414 Club.

If the Ritzy keep their schedules for 27 years maybe they could help us out?


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## Rushy (May 13, 2022)

nick said:


> I have a memory (possibly false) of being quickly ushered into the "haven " of the ritzy instead of queuing outside because things were a bit moody that evening.


They certainly changed their approach over the years. There was a disturbance in 2001 after the shooting of Dereck Bennett (who was IIRC holding someone hostage on Loughborough Road with a gun shaped cigarette lighter). I was drinking a pint on the roof terrace at the Ritzy with a friend and watching the riot vans pile in to Tate Gardens when we were swiftly told to abandon our pints and ushered out into the melee. We expressed reluctance to leave and were told that they would of course love for us to stay if it was not for their insurance. And wished us good luck!


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## editor (May 13, 2022)

ska invita said:


> Great website and archive​​
> 
> Brixton Gentrification Struggles 1993-2021: A Timeline


I was really chuffed that Brixton Buzz, urban75 and these forums providing so much of the source material.

There's also an excellent academic paper that references urban/Buzz here too: 









						Taking the B off Brixton – heritage and gentrification discussed in academic paper
					

A new book proposes ways to deal with contentious heritages in creative ways, and local writer Marion Hamm contributed 15 pages about the ongoing changes in Brixton as one of the metropolitan neigh…



					www.brixtonbuzz.com
				




Go straight to the Brixton chapter here: https://netlibrary.aau.at/download/pdf/6426989


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## CH1 (May 23, 2022)

Not your usual post here, but here is a letter from Decca Radio at 1-3 Brixton Road to the British Admiralty Signal Establishment regarding the Decca Navigator system, then under development. This system operating on VLF (very low frequencies - 80kHz-100kHz- was used finally in the D Day landings and became a staple navigation aid until the advent of satellite navigation in the 1980s.

What sparked my reminiscent was finding an old box of electronic parts in my junk cupboard
I used to work there in the 1970s. and couldn't throw it out without comment!


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## editor (Jun 7, 2022)

Fabulous pic of Carlton Mansions and showing the Barrier Block in 1981 before the concierge entrance was built.  I like the way that the line motif was continued across the sections.

Note the WOMEN ARE ANGRY!! graffiti.


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## RoyReed (Jun 12, 2022)

Horseflesh for human consumption.


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## editor (Jun 12, 2022)

RoyReed said:


> Horseflesh for human consumption.



Bit more here Queueing for horsemeat on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton at the Horse Flesh shop


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## ska invita (Jun 12, 2022)

.


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## CH1 (Jun 12, 2022)

This has turned up on the MOBS Facebook page.
Seems like when the Granville Arcade opened (Brixton Villaage to you and me) there were some traders who managed to combine selling goods with winning prizes - I think I've seen this in Blackpool years ago.
credit to MOBS posters:


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## CH1 (Jun 17, 2022)

Hope this is not too political! Special 1995 riot footage for horse lovers. Apols if posted already.
I was ACTUALLY looking for a photo or article about Ventura House in Acre Lane (opposite the Hope & Anchor roughly). This was a new office building which housed the Community/Police Consultative Group for Lambeth roughly 1990-95. And got itself burnt down in the 1995 death of Wayne Douglas in Brixton Police Station riots. I believe.
Can anyone help?
PS we've been having police custody deaths for decades - how come it takes the Americans to form a sustainable "Black Lives Matter" movement?


Edited: changed Crown & Anchor to Hope and Anchor + add "I believe" - though I'm pretty sure I'm right.


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## editor (Jun 20, 2022)

Woman waiting for a train at East Brixton in 1975.


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## Gramsci (Jun 22, 2022)

CH1 said:


> Hope this is not too political! Special 1995 riot footage for horse lovers. Apols if posted already.
> I was ACTUALLY looking for a photo or article about Ventura House in Acre Lane (opposite the Hope & Anchor roughly). This was a new office building which housed the Community/Police Consultative Group for Lambeth roughly 1990-95. And got itself burnt down in the 1995 death of Wayne Douglas in Brixton Police Station riots. I believe.
> Can anyone help?
> PS we've been having police custody deaths for decades - how come it takes the Americans to form a sustainable "Black Lives Matter" movement?
> ...



I remember that. This is Somerleyton road. Friend of mine lost is rather old Saab in Somerleyton. It was burnt.


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## ska invita (Jun 22, 2022)

probably posted on the thread already but this is very good





						Simon Hannah – Radical Lambeth 1978-1991 – Breviary Stuff
					






					www.breviarystuff.org.uk


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## CH1 (Jun 23, 2022)

Regarding my earlier request for info on Ventura House 176-188 Acre Lane SW2 5UL - it definitely existed, as the Gleaner newspaper was operating from there in 1995:

I want to see the radical/anarchist claims in print that it was burnt down because of the Fuzz in 1995.
We need to take an oral history from Alex Oluwade if some Spartacist organ cannot be found!

EDITED to provide Gleaner company return as a pdf.


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## editor (Jun 23, 2022)

CH1 said:


> Regarding my earlier request for info on Ventura House 176-188 Acre Lane SW2 5UL - it definitely existed, as the Gleaner newspaper was operating from there in 1995:
> 
> 
> https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/ZWJMtBz_m-Klu4JGFKWrW6NR8XbxegPOVtB-GfJ2AEA/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3KWMFVE6I%2F20220623%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20220623T104442Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEFcaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIB2Jky9lWY%2FI83q59h%2FyEHBF6JjHlj4KCDLVcdGNShjqAiEAoDhqE5iefYF2dK7hjPtMHD%2FYqnBEh1cuSldcC1H1J0Eq0wQIcBAEGgw0NDkyMjkwMzI4MjIiDFBdkYhrYASyVsbMpSqwBIXHqMR3dcKoosEjxbYaU3NBqVDCKkRhVgSMJVYe6dWFvDtcv%2BkljfNLAlnVyCKJNwsKVvvJjrV9%2Bdv3yG2WPFiFTx4Xn5rOH2mkOTJZQJ5XKH1CRTcr%2FVkUP6HHgXH%2BF3fZRoOqgC4cuDXnKyBQ6I8%2FHnccyTu1L6JZyzxfFDrizJvcr0rGhwWCdoLfkqPwtlUi8SKqmkju6vVc%2Bo%2FCb9OQ0Q9bSJ7U8BvN0LzJrXhg%2BxHc0IlPkEHi4wktGEb%2FAmp%2BK1oIItaDDbUlpmVI%2F91hxiswWM3RSVNvweoGOuPLH4mRXGEskwP8fpmZ70Z%2BPacWCFh00IIKePRcw11jj0LWXPdIujfjcqfzuv9Z7oeWd0EK6QfiuGN3M8IGmhqhlxwSHX4yt6kW2XL21xDZodCBKQw%2F%2F3lcFQ8vu3p7TP2d4Q1qMgAGdOOEnJvITuO79NiDwmtCVwj5zm1H63QbPZHfq%2BPlhFDDsqlhynRV%2BpproRBGBjsYd1BVx%2B%2FpV35eSvwmWjh0Aq39g9EFzs521WUYiNySs%2BZOjX0A%2BgDcsK0MtmXUP7oolkqhapTNXPbi3OLqiANQT%2B%2FqJeBaA1IjrEO7oC3As7ouYyJfzPJx3m%2BhBq9sOvwR1sYLITia6FSD62bluRleKAaKv2J9H6bXeCNWowucRd%2Bf82mUmxoExR6iRe2G8ksE3XTggYUIBysP%2BS6P8ZeFgvC0l7ZyDeAXKbgRF4sKncgmsbEZhDK%2B13aOMMWS0JUGOqkBWgZ7ETXrTdNBLE2bxrwZuYYHNF%2BD1ARufYDl066s8auCsT25dBqo3WPiFu9wlHmOHa0LJVb04sh1feE53Xz6F7kM3KbTInuzG0wileunN0GuK%2BdIe%2FUnq0HF871YslgoB%2BQh%2Fn37ID8jdE3Y6WFMXX4tEkim0olJt89xpJw62X7SACHBV1qFDwf6lnrx8YXhdbl%2BiOwyncuMDHw6Hew5AB5GkJbQFZ%2FtDA%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=inline%3Bfilename%3D%22companies_house_document.pdf%22&X-Amz-Signature=a5366d8374f31b5b5ae1b94364772a043dc68abfa69294239e4a3a6a08037934
> ...


That is not a happy link, despite its impressive girth.


----------



## CH1 (Jun 23, 2022)

editor said:


> That is not a happy link, despite its impressive girth.


They've now blocked direct companies house quotes by the looks of it.
I have uploaded a pdf of the printout.
There seem to have been quite as few small businesses in the premises - apart from the Gleaner and the Police Consultative Group.
It's a bit frustrating that prior to about 2000 there is nothing much online, unless of national significance.
No doubt Lambeth Archives will have a South London Press article if I went there. Wonder if there was a picture?


----------



## editor (Jun 23, 2022)

Look at these lovely tram tickets!



(All on eBay now if anyone wants to buy them!)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 23, 2022)

editor said:


> Look at these lovely tram tickets!



And two of them at least (the service 34 ones) would have been printed in Brixton 







(source)

The LCC Tramways printing works was on Effra Road - about where Halfords is now.  London Transport rebuilt it after war damage and it became ticket machine maintenance works and ticket roll production site, closed some time round the mid 80s.

They moved there from Camberwell at some point, the earlier three tickets may have been produced there.

(I have a vague feeling I've said I'll do a Brixton Buzz article one of these days about this lost Brixton industry - just need to do a bit more research...)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jun 26, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> (but plans date from the 1937 london highways development survey so don't worry)
> 
> last sold price i can find for a copy of the whole thing is 75 quid. bugger.





teuchter said:


> Were they planning to co-opt the railway viaduct from Elephant Walworth Road to Blackfriars, then?





Puddy_Tat said:


> unless i get hold of a copy of the full document, not sure. possibly alongside, possibly above (ideas as half-baked as that did get floated)



found a copy for sale for quite a bit less than 75 quid this afternoon (online so it will get here some time this week)

i will add this to my list of things i've promised editor i'll do an article on at some point

although i want to do something on the grove park bit of the south circular first (part built, part not)


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 4, 2022)

anyone want to start building a tram line in their garden?


----------



## editor (Jul 17, 2022)

I would have loved to have gone to the Empress!


----------



## editor (Jul 23, 2022)

Any idea where this is on Brixton Road, exactly?


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 23, 2022)

editor said:


> Any idea where this is on Brixton Road, exactly?



i think it's more likely to be the north end of brixton hill, rather than brixton road.

photo must be 1892-ish or later, as there's tram track with conduit (at this resolution, not sure i can tell the difference between conduit for the cable trams and conduit for the later electric trams.)

I can't see any bits of brixton road that would match the pattern of big houses with big gardens.   but somewhere round rush common, looking north, seems possible.

1890s OS map here

the brickwork of the lower part of the wall between the woman with the straw hat and the smallish boy suggests a slight downhill gradient - not a 100% obvious match (although it may have been rebuilt since) has something in common with the wall in front of corpus christi church


----------



## editor (Jul 25, 2022)

I bet the rioters never imagined that there'd be walking tours one day:









						When Brixton Went on Fire: 40 Years After - Brixton Riots Walking Tour
					

A walking tour on the Brixton Riots and how they shaped the Brixton of today.




					www.eventbrite.co.uk


----------



## editor (Jul 25, 2022)

Well, here's a gent:


----------



## CH1 (Jul 25, 2022)

editor said:


> I bet the rioters never imagined that there'd be walking tours one day:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think the walk guide fits the description Linda Bellos gave about 20 years ago - all the black people have been priced out of Brixton Linda said - they've moved to Thornton Heath and Croydon. 
Nevertheless I suspect a South Croydon resident might not get the full impact of how 30 years of social and ethnic cleansing have changed the ambience of our neighbourhood.
Not that beer at £6.85 stops the police searching you if you are black and they think your car is too expensive - or wanting to search your house if Sky Arts is on too loud!


----------



## agricola (Jul 25, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> anyone want to start building a tram line in their garden?




There were some visible when Vauxhall Bridge was repaired a year or so ago.


----------



## editor (Jul 26, 2022)

Twenty years ago!









						Brixton history: Coldharbour Lane, Atlantic Road, Ritzy and a huge can of baked beans, July 2002
					

Here’s a selection of scenes from our archives taken back in July 2002 – when Brixton was a very different place. (Please note: this article updated July 2022)



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 26, 2022)

agricola said:


> There were some visible when Vauxhall Bridge was repaired a year or so ago.



i have got a couple of two foot chunks of london tram tracks acquired when roads were being dug up...


----------



## editor (Jul 27, 2022)

There's some interesting stuff here Getty Images launches free photo archive of black history


----------



## Etymologist (Jul 28, 2022)

Hello. With the death of erstwhile Brixton resident James Lovelock, two days ago, I have been reading his obituaries and it has stoked an interest in his old haunts. He was born in Letchworth but then moved with his parents to Brixton where he attended The Strand Grammar school. There is a lot of interesting history about it on its Wikipedia page (Strand School - Wikipedia particularly interesting are the connection with Dick Shepard and Tulse Hill Schools and Thatcher's role in it all). It still stands on Elm Park Road, at the intersection with Craignair Road and is currently called Elm Court school, for pupils with learning difficulties. 

What I cannot discover, and why I'm here, is where his parents art/framing shop was. They were called Tom and Nellie Lovelock and ran a framing shoping somewhere in Brixton in the 20s and 30s? perhaps longer than that, not really sure. Does anyone know any more than this? I'd be particularly keen to know the address.


----------



## editor (Jul 28, 2022)

Listening to Brixton 10 years ago


----------



## lang rabbie (Jul 28, 2022)

Etymologist said:


> Hello. With the death of erstwhile Brixton resident James Lovelock, two days ago, I have been reading his obituaries and it has stoked an interest in his old haunts. He was born in Letchworth but then moved with his parents to Brixton where he attended The Strand Grammar school. There is a lot of interesting history about it on its Wikipedia page (Strand School - Wikipedia particularly interesting are the connection with Dick Shepard and Tulse Hill Schools and Thatcher's role in it all). It still stands on Elm Park Road, at the intersection with Craignair Road and is currently called Elm Court school, for pupils with learning difficulties.
> 
> What I cannot discover, and why I'm here, is where his parents art/framing shop was. They were called Tom and Nellie Lovelock and ran a framing shoping somewhere in Brixton in the 20s and 30s? perhaps longer than that, not really sure. Does anyone know any more than this? I'd be particularly keen to know the address.


The shop is likely to be listed in annual Trade Directories of the era such as Kelly's. The archives at Minet hold copies for moat interwar years.  Finding them does depend on Thomas having traded under the Lovelock name.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Jul 28, 2022)

Etymologist said:


> What I cannot discover, and why I'm here, is where his parents art/framing shop was. They were called Tom and Nellie Lovelock and ran a framing shoping somewhere in Brixton in the 20s and 30s? perhaps longer than that, not really sure. Does anyone know any more than this? I'd be particularly keen to know the address.





lang rabbie said:


> The shop is likely to be listed in annual Trade Directories of the era such as Kelly's. The archives at Minet hold copies for moat interwar years. Finding them does depend on Thomas having traded under the Lovelock name.



Yes.  

Kellys / Post Office Directories up to 1919 are public domain, Leicester University have digitised a lot and put them online.  Presume it may be a 100 year rule about copyright.

I've had  a quick look in the 1919 'London Suburbs' issue (I have a few that I downloaded) and nobody by the name of Lovelock in any trade like this, nothing matching under picture framers etc.

Don't know where you're based, but 'ancestry' have some more recent directories - you can sign up for a free trial with them (think it probably works on the basis of you hand over some credit card details and they hope you forget to cancel within X time) and some library services offer access to library members (during lockdown, my local library made it so you could log in from home, but it's now gone back only to being available in library branches - sod it.)

The 1921 census is now out there which might help if they lived over the shop and were there by 1921 - 'find my past' seem to have exclusive rights to this, and viewing info is not free.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 3, 2022)

slight stretch, 

34 tram turning right from Clapham Road to Stockwell Road at the 'Swan' / underground station junction, c. 1950.



service 34 was Kings Road Chelsea to Blackfriars via what's now the 345 and 45 bus routes.


----------



## Transpontine (Aug 17, 2022)

Guess this is ancient history now - the Clinic Defence Campaign opposing anti-abortionists in Brixton Hill in 1990 - more here Brixton Hill Clinic Defence Campaign - defeating anti-abortionists in 1990


----------



## BusLanes (Aug 18, 2022)

Well people still protest outside the now MSI clinic. I saw some several weeks ago. They even appeared to be doing shifts


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 24, 2022)

(edit - oops.  tried to post a photo from flickr, but it's currently set on 'friends only' or whatever they call it.)


----------



## editor (Aug 25, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> (edit - oops.  tried to post a photo from flickr, but it's currently set on 'friends only' or whatever they call it.)


Take a screenshot!


----------



## CH1 (Aug 25, 2022)

Not sure if I posted this before. A 13 second clip feat. Gordon Petrie (landlord of the George Canning) and Mick McManus unaccountably inserted into a Spike Milligan Q5 programme celebrating Her Majesty - originally broadcast 1969.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 25, 2022)

second attempt now it's public

somewhere late 40s - 1951


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Aug 26, 2022)

today's



Looks like a B-type bus, so after 1911.  One 'hansom' on the cab rank among the motor taxis.  Probably before the 1914 war.


----------



## DietCokeGirl (Aug 27, 2022)

Not exactly Brixton but wasn't sure where to post - so feel free to move to the best thread/board.

A friend is leading a guided walk on the history of Waterloo, as part of Lambeth Local History Fair next week, it will be interesting and entertaining and you can get a ticket here:









						The real Waterloo?
					

Join Lambeth Tour Guides Association for a circular walk around the lesser known streets of Waterloo  Part of the Lambeth  Heritage Festival




					www.eventbrite.co.uk


----------



## editor (Aug 27, 2022)

A rare photo of the Crown/Mucky Duck (now Co Op on Coldharbour Lane). Shame it's got shitty watermarks all over it.



*edit: looks later than 1930s to me...


----------



## CH1 (Aug 27, 2022)

editor said:


> A rare photo of the Crown/Mucky Duck (now Co Op on Coldharbour Lane). Shame it's got shitty watermarks all over it.
> 
> View attachment 339873
> 
> *edit: looks later than 1930s to me...


I remember going in once or twice shortly after moving to Coldharbour Lane.
It had a dartboard which seemed popular.
Predominantly white clientele.
Seemed to be part of a Met Police moral panic which saw the Harriers, the Crown and the Green Man in Loughborough Junction all closed down due to alleged criminal activities The Lord Stanley was I think closed simply because bought by developers for housing.
Another moral panic situation around the same time was the Duke of Wellington in Acre Lane Duke of Wellington, Acre Lane Brixton – Edwardian pub demolished


----------



## editor (Sep 15, 2022)

August 1929. Looks like a hot day with all the windows open (although people are wearing coats!).


----------



## editor (Sep 15, 2022)

The bridge sure looked prettier in 1979


----------



## editor (Sep 15, 2022)

1938 advert. £25 was a fair bit of wonga back in the day.


----------



## editor (Sep 22, 2022)

Remember these?!


----------



## lang rabbie (Sep 22, 2022)

editor said:


> Remember these?!
> 
> View attachment 344012


Slightly concerned that Urban is turning into one of those Facebook nostalgia groups, but hopefully not quite so prone to casual racism.


----------



## editor (Sep 22, 2022)

lang rabbie said:


> Slightly concerned that Urban is turning into one of those Facebook nostalgia groups, but hopefully not quite so prone to casual racism.


I think we'll be ok seeing as most of the stuff posted is from the Victorian/Edwardian period. Even urbanites aren't that old.


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## Puddy_Tat (Sep 22, 2022)

editor said:


> 1938 advert. £25 was a fair bit of wonga back in the day.



according to ONS, average male manual earnings in October 1938 was about £ 3.50 a week, a London bus driver (then one of the better paying manual jobs) was on £ 4.50 a week basic.

and that would only have been any good if you had a garden to put the shelter in (much the same can be said about the government's anderson shelters that they started making available in late 1938)

not that it's specific to brixton, but there's an article on past tense about the difference in shelter provision in well off / working class areas of london in the early part of the 1939 war, and some of the actions of the communist party in stepney.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 22, 2022)

and today's tram - think it's the corner of brixton hill / new park road


----------



## tim (Sep 23, 2022)

lang rabbie said:


> Slightly concerned that Urban is turning into one of those Facebook nostalgia groups, but hopefully not quite so prone to casual racism.


Post more to counteract the trend.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Sep 23, 2022)

Brixton event 30 years ago related to current issues in Belgrade this year, so not just nostalgia.

Sorry I don't know how to post up a translation (Google translate gives some odd sentances like -going for a drive = coming out. But you get the gist)


> Tri decenije od prvog Evroprajda u Londonu - BBC News na srpskom
> 
> 
> Učesnici i organizatori prvog Evroprajda o izazovima i promenama koji su obeležili prvi evropski skup LGBT zajednice.
> ...


----------



## CH1 (Sep 23, 2022)

friendofdorothy said:


> Brixton event 30 years ago related to current issues in Belgrade this year, so not just nostalgia.
> 
> Sorry I don't know how to post up a translation (Google translate gives some odd sentances like -going for a drive = coming out. But you get the gist)


Does this do it? (there is a language box top right)








						Три деценије од првог Европрајда у Лондону - BBC News на српском
					

Учесници и организатори првог Европрајда о изазовима и променама који су обележили први европски скуп ЛГБТ заједнице.




					www.bbc.com


----------



## CH1 (Sep 23, 2022)

CH1 said:


> Does this do it? (there is a language box top right)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oh well. If you look at the top of the page there is a box with "Lar" in it.
Click the box then chose "English" rather than Serbian.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Sep 25, 2022)

from flickr today

early 30's


----------



## editor (Sep 29, 2022)

Fifty Shilling Tailors (that's £2.50 now) invoice from 1926


----------



## felonius monk (Sep 30, 2022)

The Fifty Shilling Tailors chain later became John Collier "The Window to Watch" in 1958.  


			https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/468-470-brixton-road-brixton/


----------



## Rushy (Sep 30, 2022)

felonius monk said:


> The Fifty Shilling Tailors chain later became John Collier "The Window to Watch" in 1958.
> 
> 
> https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/468-470-brixton-road-brixton/


Great little peek up Tunstall Road!


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## CH1 (Sep 30, 2022)

Rushy said:


> Great little peek up Tunstall Road!


I remember Littlewoods - but don't remember it being fronted up by "John Collier"


----------



## happyshopper (Oct 1, 2022)

I hated that footbridge.


----------



## CH1 (Oct 1, 2022)

happyshopper said:


> I hated that footbridge.


Brixton residents always preferred jaywalking. It wasn't so much the bridge - more the galvanised railings in the middle of the road. True 1970s work aesthetic!


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 2, 2022)

from this album of lambeth, 1985-92

the rest of his stuff is pretty good as well...


----------



## Winot (Oct 3, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> from this album of lambeth, 1985-92
> 
> the rest of his stuff is pretty good as well...



Looks like a very young Ian serving. He still works on the market, now at Ilias fishmongers in Granville Arcade.


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## CH1 (Oct 20, 2022)

Those were the days... some subversive poster put this 1987 show up on the BBC Question Time page.
One of the panelists is Linda Bellos, and Robin Day in the chair.
Amazing how well spoken and polite everyone is.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 21, 2022)

ancestor of the 159


----------



## BusLanes (Oct 22, 2022)

Huh, that brewery still exists. Turns out Spaten was a Munich brewery that exported to the UK via a branch office for a couple of decades before WW1


----------



## alex_ (Oct 22, 2022)

BusLanes said:


> Huh, that brewery still exists. Turns out Spaten was a Munich brewery that exported to the UK via a branch office for a couple of decades before WW1



Now owned by budveiser


----------



## Eggby (Oct 24, 2022)

CH1 said:


> Those were the days... some subversive poster put this 1987 show up on the BBC Question Time page.
> One of the panelists is Linda Bellos, and Robin Day in the chair.
> Amazing how well spoken and polite everyone is.



It does still get a bit heated although Robin Day quickly puts the dude in his place (link below)...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Oct 25, 2022)

today's - probably late 40s / possibly early 50s


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 2, 2022)

today's trams

technically kennington, but at least the tram nearer the photographer would have come through brixton, and there aren't that many colour photos...


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Nov 8, 2022)

a couple from teh tweeter today


----------



## editor (Nov 20, 2022)

Old shopfront sign in L Junction


----------



## editor (Nov 20, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> a couple from teh tweeter today



More about the Eel and Pie shop here









						Brixton history - J Young Eel and Pie restaurant, 426 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9 8LF, now Gyozo Chinese and Japanese restaurant, Lambeth, London
					

Brixton history - J Young Eel and Pie restaurant, 426 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9, now Gyozo Chinese and Japanese restaurant, Lambeth, London



					www.urban75.org


----------



## teuchter (Nov 21, 2022)

1964









						Old Colour Images | Brixton Road, Brixton, London 1964
					

Thanks to Ray for identifying the location



					www.oldcolourimages.com


----------



## felonius monk (Nov 21, 2022)

Seems that J.Young opened in 1930. The 1919 Kelly Directory lists a fried fish shop at 426 CHL. Youngs became Burroughs in the 1970s, which was its name when it closed as an eel pie shop in the 90s. Burroughs also had a shop in Lambeth Walk. Some interior photos c1987








						eel and pie house – The London Column
					

Posts about eel and pie house written by thelondoncolumn




					thelondoncolumn.com


----------



## editor (Nov 21, 2022)

I've just seen that someone is selling a flyer I designed way back in 1999!












						COLLECTIVE PARTY Rave Flyer A6 21/1/99 414 Coldharbour Lane Brixton London  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for COLLECTIVE PARTY Rave Flyer A6 21/1/99 414 Coldharbour Lane Brixton London at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.



					www.ebay.co.uk


----------



## Gramsci (Dec 4, 2022)

editor said:


> I've just seen that someone is selling a flyer I designed way back in 1999!
> 
> View attachment 352436
> 
> ...



Wonder how it ended up in Glasgow.


----------



## CH1 (Dec 5, 2022)

Gramsci said:


> Wonder how it ended up in Glasgow.


On the same page "related sponsored items"

2 people quoting £3.99, 1 £9.97

I've got this - but I'm not selling. It is a play script which was given away to the audience attending the play at the Soho Theatre in 2007. I see from the review below that a lead character was played by Jimmy Akingbola, who seems to pop up on TV occasionally and in the Evening Standard nearly every day.
My strongest recollection was the scene changing device where the Lambeth Town Hall clock would chime and they would all hail "Alfie" (our late Town Crier - who I think had died not so long before)

Rave review here: Theatre review: The Christ of Coldharbour Lane at Soho Theatre


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 6, 2022)

on teh tweeter today.  c. 1950


----------



## editor (Dec 15, 2022)

Love to see a non watermarked copy of this fine postcard!


----------



## editor (Dec 15, 2022)

Worth a repost!


----------



## editor (Dec 15, 2022)

A walk across the rooftops


----------



## happyshopper (Dec 15, 2022)

Wonderful pictures. Thanks. Can anyone work out the likely years?


----------



## pbsmooth (Dec 19, 2022)




----------



## editor (Dec 19, 2022)

pbsmooth said:


> View attachment 356325


It's from here Brixton history – the Barrier Block (Southwyck House) pictured in December 1986


----------



## editor (Dec 19, 2022)

happyshopper said:


> Wonderful pictures. Thanks. Can anyone work out the likely years?


Around 1905 give or take 10 years, I'd suggest.


----------



## David Clapson (Dec 19, 2022)

More about the Barrier Block and the unbuilt motorway in the Guardian the other day London’s lost mega-motorway: the eight-lane ring road that would have destroyed much of the city


----------



## friendofdorothy (Dec 19, 2022)

editor said:


> Love to see a non watermarked copy of this fine postcard!


Morley & Lanceley opened 1880 became just Morleys in 1927. Is that the town hall clock tower, its not clear? as that was built 1908. Fashions could suggest 1880s-1900s. Dont see tram tracks in the road - perhaps that would date it? Puddy_Tat


----------



## editor (Dec 19, 2022)

friendofdorothy said:


> Morley & Lanceley opened 1880 became just Morleys in 1927. Is that the town hall clock tower, its not clear? as that was built 1908. Fashions could suggest 1880s-1900s. Dont see tram tracks in the road - perhaps that would date it? Puddy_Tat


It has to be the town hall in the background - it lines up perfectly in modern pics. 

Here's another view looking the opposite way - the tram tracks aren't very visible in this shot either:














						Brixton history in photos – Brixton Road captured just before the First World War
					

Here’s another of our occasional dips into Brixton’s rich history, and this time we’re taking a close look at an animated postcard scene overlooking Brixton Road in the Edwardian …



					www.brixtonbuzz.com


----------



## BusLanes (Dec 19, 2022)

David Clapson said:


> More about the Barrier Block and the unbuilt motorway in the Guardian the other day London’s lost mega-motorway: the eight-lane ring road that would have destroyed much of the city



One of the people in a street WhatsApp I belong to said she still has the compulsory purchase letter her parents were sent before the project was cancelled.


----------



## friendofdorothy (Dec 19, 2022)

BusLanes said:


> One of the people in a street WhatsApp I belong to said she still has the compulsory purchase letter her parents were sent before the project was cancelled.


Could be worth donating to the Archives - I don't imagine many of those letters survived.


----------



## editor (Dec 20, 2022)

History of 228 CHL: Brixton history: 228 Coldharbour Lane – from hosiers to heel bar to sourdough bread in 120 years


----------



## CH1 (Dec 20, 2022)

BusLanes said:


> One of the people in a street WhatsApp I belong to said she still has the compulsory purchase letter her parents were sent before the project was cancelled.


I went Googling (briefly) because I understood that the whole terrace 286-320 Coldharbour Lane had a basement closure order on it in the 1970s, effectively making the houses unsaleable. I picked this up chatting with one of the original Brixton Society people - long since moved on. The general thesis of my colleague was this had made demolition and motorway development more feasible at the time. However I found in the Welcome Institute of all places has a 1937 report of the Medical Office for Health for Lambeth in 1937. This mentions 298 Coldharbour Lane, but two others in Agell Ward and lots in Lambeth generally.






						[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth Borough] page 69
					






					wellcomelibrary.org
				




I had formed the view watching the documentary series "The Secret History of Our Streets" that councils deployed inspectors to get people out of properties they wanted to demolish for development - for council estates as well as motorways. It may be that my Brixton Soc friend was right - that Public Health were happy to condemn our terrace as "unfit" when at least by the 1980s with the advent of Conservation Areas solutions to cure the problems would have been sought.

Seems that for some reason 298 Coldharbour Lane basement was unfit for habitation in 1937, never mind 1967.

This could be because of damp and flooding. Thames Water put in some sort of pumping station on Barrington Road/Wyck Gardens to remove waste rainwater from the drains and alleviate flooding. Took them until 2007 to do it mind!








						Issue - items at meetings - Wyck Gardens, Millbrook Road (Coldharbour Ward) | Lambeth Council
					






					moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk
				




Funnily enough 318 basement was another perennial victim of flooding - and this property has been rented out to Lambeth for emergency housing for many years. This too will have greatly benefited from Thames Water's pumping station.


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## felonius monk (Dec 20, 2022)

editor said:


> History of 228 CHL: Brixton history: 228 Coldharbour Lane – from hosiers to heel bar to sourdough bread in 120 years


From the British Newspaper Archive: In the late 1870s and 1880s 228 CHL was Allen's Lending Library which also acted as a clearing house for small ads in the South London Press (servants wanted, furniture for sale et). Maybe a precursor to the Tate Library. 
In 1886 it was Leslie's Free Registry Office for Servants  though possibly still just a PO address. 
In 1894 J Allen was looking for post-season fixtures for his football team Denmark Rangers of the Camberwell and Brixton League. 
Still selling hosiery as late as 1927 by mail (prop: S. Haim).


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## editor (Dec 20, 2022)

felonius monk said:


> From the British Newspaper Archive: In the late 1870s and 1880s 228 CHL was Allen's Lending Library which also acted as a clearing house for small ads in the South London Press (servants wanted, furniture for sale et). Maybe a precursor to the Tate Library.
> In 1886 it was Leslie's Free Registry Office for Servants  though possibly still just a PO address.
> In 1894 J Allen was looking for post-season fixtures for his football team Denmark Rangers of the Camberwell and Brixton League.
> Still selling hosiery as late as 1927 by mail (prop: S. Haim).


Oh thanks for that. Let me add that to the article (with a credit, natch!).


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## felonius monk (Dec 21, 2022)

editor said:


> Oh thanks for that. Let me add that to the article (with a credit, natch!).


Short update: Kelly's Directory for Surrey 1878 lists Joseph Allen (Stationer) at 228 CHL. Shops like Boots and WH Smith operated Lending Libraries back then (even into the 1940s), so plausible that the shop operated as a stationer and library.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 21, 2022)

friendofdorothy said:


> Morley & Lanceley opened 1880 became just Morleys in 1927. Is that the town hall clock tower, its not clear? as that was built 1908. Fashions could suggest 1880s-1900s. Dont see tram tracks in the road - perhaps that would date it? Puddy_Tat



think i can just see tram tracks.  some postcard publishers would try to edit tram lines (or outside inner london, the overhead wires) out

if the town hall went up in 1908, it must be after that - and brixton road had trams well before that.

building had a major fire in 1910, so possibly before that?


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 21, 2022)

on tweeter today


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 21, 2022)

and on flickr



first 109 bus out of Brixton (Streatham Hill) bus garage, the morning after the last tram (the garage was in the process of being rebuilt at the time, the current building was finished a bit later.)


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 21, 2022)

editor said:


> History of 228 CHL: Brixton history: 228 Coldharbour Lane – from hosiers to heel bar to sourdough bread in 120 years





felonius monk said:


> Short update: Kelly's Directory for Surrey 1878 lists Joseph Allen (Stationer) at 228 CHL. Shops like Boots and WH Smith operated Lending Libraries back then (even into the 1940s), so plausible that the shop operated as a stationer and library.




1896 London suburbs directory lists Joseph Allen, newsagent &c at 228

1904 - Brown & Son, hosiers

(still there in 1919, which is the most recent one that's in public domain.)


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## happyshopper (Dec 22, 2022)

Puddy_Tat said:


> … Brixton (Streatham Hill) bus garage, the morning after the last tram …


I’ve always been confused about which is ”Brixton bus garage”. To me the picture looks like the one on Brixton Hill, rather than the one on Streatham Hill.


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## CH1 (Dec 22, 2022)

happyshopper said:


> I’ve always been confused about which is ”Brixton bus garage”. To me the picture looks like the one on Brixton Hill, rather than the one on Streatham Hill.


I thought that at first, but this resumé with picture of the original Brixton garage opposite Telford Avenue on Urban changed my mind. Also look at the accompanying 1923 Brixton Hill tram shed annex and see what you think. For me the apparently smaller arch at Streatham Hill - with some sort of ridge at the junction of the arch and the perpendicular seems more ornate than the functional Brixton Hill shed entrance. Lcc Tram Depot, Streatham Hill, Brixton. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2


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## lang rabbie (Dec 22, 2022)

happyshopper said:


> I’ve always been confused about which is ”Brixton bus garage”. To me the picture looks like the one on Brixton Hill, rather than the one on Streatham Hill.


The larger former tram depot opposite Telford Avenue was demolished in the weeks immediately after the last tram ran and replaced with a new bus garage - much more functional but certainly less architecturally distinguished.


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## editor (Dec 22, 2022)

lang rabbie said:


> The larger former tram depot opposite Telford Avenue was demolished in the weeks immediately after the last tram ran and replaced with a new bus garage - much more functional but certainly less architecturally distinguished.


I fixed the link in the old urban article - here's the thread about the tram depot - Brixton's trams: archive photos and the underground station that never was


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 22, 2022)

happyshopper said:


> I’ve always been confused about which is ”Brixton bus garage”. To me the picture looks like the one on Brixton Hill, rather than the one on Streatham Hill.



we've had this before.



lang rabbie said:


> The larger former tram depot opposite Telford Avenue was demolished in the weeks immediately after the last tram ran and replaced with a new bus garage - much more functional but certainly less architecturally distinguished.



^ yes.  This one was known as either Streatham Hill or Telford Avenue (or occasionally Streatham) tram depot.

When buses replaced trams, London Transport called it Brixton Garage, as there was already a Streatham Bus garage (it was where the big Tesco on Streatham High Road is now.) 

There were a few other places like this, like Camberwell where there's now two bus garages almost opposite each other.  The place that's now a 1950s building used by Abellio had previously been Camberwell tram depot, but it was re-named and rebuilt as Walworth bus garage when trams went, as there was already a Camberwell bus garage (the one on the south side of the road that's now Go-Ahead London.)

The one that's still standing at Brixton Hill with 'LCC Tramways' above the door was always known as Brixton Hill, and was an annexe / outstation to Telford Avenue depot.  It was sold off (or rented out) after trams were abandoned, and only came back in to use for buses relatively recently.


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## happyshopper (Dec 22, 2022)

Thanks to all.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 24, 2022)




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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 26, 2022)




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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 26, 2022)

c. 1950


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## MrSki (Jan 3, 2023)

August 1929 






Photo by Central Press


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## CH1 (Jan 5, 2023)

Someone sent me this link before Christmas. 








						CHILDREN OUTSIDE WARTIME PREFABS: WORLD WAR II - Landmark
					

Sandra and Colin Lark playing outside prefabricated Nissen Hut houses. The Lark’s were allocated a prefab in Loughborough Gardens, Brixton North, built by American engineers in 1944 as temporary accommodation for bombed-out families. Their daughter Sandra recalls: ‘ the entrance led into a large...




					boroughphotos.org
				



It relates to an article posted by editor in May 2021 General Brixton history - photos, stories etc
CHILDREN OUTSIDE WARTIME PREFABS: WORLD WAR II
Sandra and Colin Lark playing outside prefabricated Nissen Hut houses. The Lark's were allocated a prefab in Loughborough Gardens, Brixton North, built by American engineers in 1944 as temporary accommodation for bombed-out families. Their daughter Sandra recalls: ' the entrance led into a large room with fireplace in the centre of the wall that divided the bedroom at the rear from the main living area. Mother hung a curtain on the right which hid the sink in which we bathed, the cooker and the dining table....there were two outside privies [toilets] and coal sheds in front, for our house and the one next door.Digital image by kind permission of Sandra Clark. From the Lambeth Archives Home Front project 2005.


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