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The Heart of Brixton

The Heart of Brixton continues the account of my walk on Sunday 28th May 1989. The previous post was Sunlight, Trinity, Town Hall & Granada and the walk began with Lavender Hill & Wandsworth Rd – 1989.

*D Bess, Bakery, Brighton Terrace, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-21*

Was this a Caribbean bakers? D Bess, The Best Bakery. The building is still there at 12-14 Brighton Terrace, trimmed off rather more neatly at the right, modernised and used as an NHS clinic for Lambeth Drug & Alcohol Service, with an extra floor added on top.

Brighton Terrace is one of the older streets in Brixton and was present by the time of the first Skeleton Town plans surveyed by the Ordnance survey in 1848-1851 and by 1870 was lined with smallish houses on both sides, none of which have survived.

At a guess this building dates from around the start of the 20th century but I can find no information about when it was built or its occupiers before it became D Bess Bakery.

*A Robson & Sons, 20-22 Brighton Terrace, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-22*

A Robson & Sons at 20-22 Brighton Terrace tell us that they are ‘Manufacturers and Rewinders of Replacement xxxxxures Stators and Rotors’ – I think the illegible word must be Armatures, but the state of the sign suggests they were no longer in business at this address. There is still a company in the same business, Robson & Francis Rewinds Ltd, in the Vale Industrial Park in Streatham who call themselves UK Specialists in Rewind & Reconditioning Armatures, Field Coils & Motors and I wonder if this is its successor.

20-22 Brighton Terrace still bears some resemblance to this rather charming small factory building, perhaps dating from the 1930s, but is now the same height as the flats at right of the picture to which it is joined, having four floors rather than the two in my picture. But it still has the same wavy roof line.

Tunstall Hall, Carlton Hall, BrixtonLodge, Bernay's Grove, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-23 — *Tunstall Hall, Carlton Hall, Brixton Lodge, *Bernay’s Grove,* Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-23*

Tunstall Hall at the left of the picture was built around 1860 and at one time was storage for Morleys Department Store on Brixton Road, whose rear entrance is just across the street. The central building is Carlton Hall – Bernay’s Grove was originally called Carlton Grove but renamed before 1912. All these buildings apparently became an engineering works in the mid-20th century.

The house at right, 1 Bernays Grove dates from the 1820s and is Grade II listed. It was one of the villas which then lined Brixton Road, set back from it with long front gardens, later built over.

Carlton Hall and No 1 was in 1889 the Carlton Club, the hall used for religious services only, and from 1905 to 1909 Brixton Synagogue. In 1989 it was a Carlton Hall Community Centre. Tunstall Hall is now an architects studio.

*The Railway Hotel, Brixton Station, Atlantic Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-25*

The London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened Brixton and South Stockwell Station in 1862 taking commuters from what was then a fairly affluent suburb to Victoria, with a further line to Blackfriars opening in 1864. The population of Brixton rapidly expanded. Atlantic Road was laid out in the late 1860s following the railway viaduct and many smaller properties soon appeared. But wealthier residents in the villas along Brixton Road moved out and shops and commercial premises were rapidly built in their place covering their long front gardens.

The Railway Hotel, Electric Avenue, Atlantic Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-26 — *The Railway Hotel, Brixton Station, Atlantic Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-25*

The Railway Hotel has a conveniently located plaque bearing the date 1880 it was built in a finely ornamented neo-Gothic style surmounted by an octagonal clocktower. What can’t be read on my picture is the text underneath the date, LAID BY ANNIE ALLEN, who was its first licensee.

Still the Railway Hotel when I took these pictures, it was renamed Brady’s Bar in the 1990s and became an important music venue, played by Jimi Hendrix, The Clash as well as more local bands such as Alabama 3.

The pub closed in 1999 and was squatted and vandalised. Lambeth Council compulsorily purchased the building, but resisted various local campaigns to turn it into a community asset, selling it off to the highest bidder in 2013. The top floors were converted to flats and the ground floor became a Mexican restuarant, which closed in 2020. It reopened later as DF Tacos. The whole area is under threat from a comprehensive development scheme.

*Stairway, Brixton Station, Atlantic Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-13-Edit*

I think these old wooden stairs have now been replaced by metal, but I can’t work out exactly where I was standing. They go up to platform level and going above the platforms is the line leading towards Denmark Hill which now carries the Overground but has no stop at Brixton. There used to be an East Brixton station on that line but about a quarter of a mile further on, at Barrington Road, but this closed in 1976.

Brixton’s British Rail stations became less important after the opening of the Victoria Line to Brixton in 1971.

89-5l-14-Edit — *Shops, Electric Avenue, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-14*

Back in 1989 there was virtually no Sunday trading before the Sunday Trading Act 1994 and I took the opportunity to photograph the normally bustling market street of Electric Avenue when it was almost empty.

This was one of London’s most elegant shopping streets when it was first built in 1885-8 and it was one of the first market streets to be lit by electricity. And around 1890 canopies were erected along both sides of the street so that shoppers could keep dry if it rained.

In 1989 I was surprised to see that these canopies had been removed, perhaps to give more space for the street market. The council I think blamed wartime damage, but it seemed a very thin excuse when they had continued to stand for over 40 years. The street has since been further damaged by partial redevelopment, and more is likely.

*Brixton Station, Atlantic Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-15*

These huge pillars carry the railway line over the top of Brixton Station. Behind is one of the railway arches which for years were home to many small businesses that served the area well. In 2015 Network Rail decided to close and refurbish the arches over a year – and any traders that wanted to return would be faced with a 350% increase in rents.

The Save Brixton Arches Campaign was set up to oppose the changes, organising a number of public protests which had very wide popular support in the area. Despite this Lambeth Council decided to go ahead with Network Rail and most of the traders went out of business.

Many of the arches have now re-opened, but not with the useful and down-to-earth shops that people in Brixton had used for years, providing useful goods cheaply. When I last walked along Atlantic Road and Brixton Station Road many were still empty. Brixton has lost a large chunk of its heart.

And it was here at the centre of Brixton that the photographs from my walk on 28th June 1989 ended, though I think I will have walked back to Acre Lane to catch my bus back to Clapham Junction.

The Alexandra, Sanitary Ware & Ace

The Alexandra, Sanitary Ware & Ace continues the account of my walk on Sunday 28th May 1989. The previous post was http://re-photo.co.uk/?p=15138 Shops, Flats, Trade Unions, Monks… and the walk began with http://re-photo.co.uk/?p=15080 Lavender Hill & Wandsworth Rd – 1989

*Shops, The Alexandra, pub, Clapham Common Southside, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-25*

The Alex is one of the best known pubs in the area and upstairs is the Clapham Darts Club, open to non-members where you can book an oche, though at £20 an hour you might think it a bit steep. I’ve never played darts in a pub where you had to pay, but then its probably 50 years since I’ve played pub darts. Then you paid by buying beer.

Its a pub too that is best avoided on match nights and at weekends unless you want to watch sport. The pub dates from 1866, though has sadly lost a much of its Victorian interior features.

*6 Haselrigge Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-15*

I can’t remember what route I took from Clapham Park Road to Bedford Rd, probably cutting through some of the estates but not stopping to take photographs. But this house is visible from Bedford Road and drew me down to make this pictures. It was certainly the slender spire which attracted my attention. Built in 1871 it also has an observatory and apparently a matching coach house behind. Long converted into flats, this locally listed house I feel must have more of a story to tell than I’ve been able to unearth.

Haselrigge Road gets its name from one of the oldest well-connected families in England, which dates back before the Norman invasion and are said to have been the lords of the manor on the now lost West Yorkshire village of Hesselgreave. Bartholomew Clerke lord of the manor of Clapham who died in 1589 and his wife, Eleanor Haselrigge, and their son are commemorated in figures on a monument in St Paul’s Church Clapham.

*63, Bedford Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-16*

53-63 Bedford Road were Grade II listed in 1981, the listing reads in part “Circa 1870, in stock brick with creamy terra-cotta dressings, built by J G Jennings as part of a larger scheme of houses of varying size and quality, to the designs of T Collcutt.” Josiah George Jennings was a noted sanitary engineer.”

Thomas Edward Collcutt (1840-1924) was an important English architect, better known for designing the Wigmore Hall, Savoy Hotel, Palace Theatre and more. This house at 63 is on the corner with Ferndale Road which now has its very own Conservation Area which provided me with much of the information below.

*Rathcoole House, Ferndale Rd, Bedford Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-63*

Rathcoole house, Grade II listed in 1981, was the main and final house of a scheme designed by T E Colcutt and built by Josiah George Jennings. Remarkably this house was derelict and had been scheduled for demolition in 1966 but was rented from the GLC as a hostel for vagrant alcoholics and decorated and fully furnished mainly by the efforts of voluntary organisations. A decorated sign on the side has the initials JG, the street name and date 1882.

*Rathcoole House, Ferndale Rd, Bedford Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-64*

The house is on the corner with Ferndale Road which has its on Conservation Area. Lambeth Council’s document on this gives more detail of George Jenning (1810-1882) who set up a company in Paris Street Lambeth making sanitary ware, “patenting revolutionary improvements to
toilets.”

His ‘Monkey Closets’ installed at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in 1851 were the world’s first public toilets – and for a penny clients “received a clean seat, a towel, a comb and shoe shine“. Ever since we have been going to spend a penny even if that now costs 50p and comes without most of the original accompaniments.

Jennings set up the South Western Pottery in Parkstone, near Poole in Dorset to produce sanitary products from the local clays, later expanding to “bricks, chimney post and architectural terracotta” all in a pale creamy colour. He developed other areas of south London including around Nightingale Lane in Clapham.

Jennings began building Ferndale Road in 1870 and only completed the scheme the year he died in a traffic accident. The completion is commemorated on the side of Rathcoole House which had been one of the earlier houses to be built.

*House, Bedford Rd area, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-51*

Not all houses in the area were built to the same standards as those by Jennings. I think this small building was probably at the front of some works behind whose corrugated iron roof is visible at left. I’m no longer sure exactly where on Bedford Road it was, but somewhere on the west side quite close to the railway bridge.

*Ace, Shop, Bedford Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5l-52*

Another rather basic building a little to the north of the railway bridge at 16 Bedford Road and surprisingly still there, now a minicab office. Ace had a rather wider scope, offering driving lessons and also selling and exchanging books – some of which you can see on the shelves through the window.

I took a second picture without the woman walking past who is reflected in the window, but I think this is better.

I turned around and walked back down Bedford Road to Acre Lane where my account of this walk will continue in a later post.

Shops, Flats, Trade Unions, Monks…

Shops, Flats, Trade Unions, Monks… continues my walk around Clapham on Sunday 28th May 1989. The previous post was Voltaire, Billiards & Methodists and the walk began with Lavender Hill & Wandsworth Rd – 1989.

*Shops, Clapham High St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-42*

The rather charming three stroy building occupied on the ground flow at least by Julia Two has gone and together with the low utilitarian shops to the right has been replaced by one of the ugliest buildings on Clapham High Street. But the buildings to the left remain, although with altered shop fronts, as do those on the other side of Venn St.

The Barclays Bank on the corner of Venn St dates from 1895 and closed a few years ago.

*Flats, Crescent Lane, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-45*

I walked on further along Clapham High Street and on along Clapham Common Southside before turning down Crescent Lane to wander around some of the streets to the south. Worsopp Drive is one of the roads in Lambeth’s Notre Dame Estate off Cresecnt Lane in an enviable location just a short walk south of Clapham Common. The estate was built in 1947-1952 when this was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth on the site of the former Notre Dame Convent. It is a mixture of different low and medium rise brick properties and these 8 storey blocks are the tallest.

I don’t know why I didn’t photograph the Clapham Orangery which was retained at the centre of the estate, but I imagine there was some good reason.

*UCW House, Union of Communication Workers, Crescent Lane, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-32*

From the estate I returned to Crescent Lane where I photographed UCW House, then the home of the Union of Communication Workers. According to the Clapham Society, around 1920 a house on this site was sold to the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers for use as their headquarters, and renamed ‘The Builders. In the 1930s, the Union of Post Office Workers bought the building and the site was divided between the two unions, with both commissioning new buildings with architect L AS Culliford. This building was opened in spetember 1937, with a extra storey being added in 1976.

The union, by then the Union of Communication Workers , sold the building as offices to he Metropolitan Huusing Trust in 1998. They moved out in 2012 and it was converted to residential use as Metropolitan Crescent.

At the south end of Crescent Lane I turned into Abbeville Road, walking along it to the junction with Park Hill where I made my next picture.

*Govette, Park Hill, Abbeville Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-33*

I first photographed this sign in 1980 and posted this about that picture when I put it on Flickr:

Govette is originally a French name, and a couple of them came over with William the Conqueror back in 1066 and were given land in Somerset. The name was often spelt without the final ‘e’.

Govette Metal & Glass Works, a family firm and was established in 1956 in Clapham, and in the 1970s split up into several divisions, with Govette’s remaining in Clapham. They closed the factory there in the mid-nineties and specialised in the supply, installation and glazing of steel windows and doors, establishing Govette Windows Ltd in 1996, and are now based in Whyteleafe. They also now have a factory in South Godstone.
Peter Marshall on Flickr

I walked back along Abbeville Road and then up St Alphonsus Rd to where it bends at a right angle to the east.

St Mary's Redemptorist Monastery, St Alphonsus Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-35 — *St Mary’s Redemptorist Monastery, St Alphonsus Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-35*

St Mary’s Roman Catholic church in Clapham Park Road whose spire appears in the background of this picture was built in 1849-51. The Redemptorists are a Catholic missionary congregation and came from Belium to set set up houses in the UK, including this Grade II* listed monastery in Clapham designed by J F Bentley in Art and Craft Gothic style and built in 1892-3.

I continued to the end of the road and turned left into Clapham Park Road going back to Clapham High Street as I wanted to take another picture of the Post Office on Venn St – which I posted in a previous post. I came back down Venn St to Bromell’s Road.

*Alley, 18-20 Bromells Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-22*

You can still see this alley on Bromwells Road but the view down in is much less interesting, with none of the bridges linking 20 with 22 across the street remaining. The buildings on Bromwells Road have been refurbished and those visible down the alley rebuilt or replaced, althhough I think that at the end of the alley is still there. But what looked like a street with various small workshops is now much tidier.

The account of my walk will continue in a later post.

Postmen, The Majestic and More

Postmen, The Majestic continues my walk on Sunday 28th May 1989. The previous post was Citroen & More Clapham and the walk began with Lavender Hill & Wandsworth Rd – 1989.

Postmen's Office, Venn St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-23 — *Postmens Office, Venn St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-23*

Postmen and Postwomen are still using the Postmen’s Office, a rather grand building from AD1902 where Venn Street takes a 90 degree turn to the east with Sedley Place going west. It seems now to be officially known as the Royal Mail Clapham Delivery Office.

I liked this picture partly because it gave some indication of the work which goes on inside the office, but came back for another picture when the rented truck had moved.

Postmen's Office, Venn St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-36 — *Postmens Office, Venn St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-36*

When Lambeth Council set up their ‘Local List’ of historic buildings and artifacts which are not included in the statutory listing in 2010 it was one of the first to be listed, along with four others in the Clapham area, recognised by the council itself as being of architectural interest.

The Clapham Society two years later submitted there ow n list of over 70 properties in the area to recommend to the council of which only around ten were added, some excluded because they were inside already designated conservation areas. Clapham really does have a lot of interesting properties

Local listing provides little actual protection to properties but does mean the council will be aware of them in coming to planning decisions and take them into consideration in setting up local development plans. But unlike buildings in conservation areas or listed buildings they can be demolished without consent – which is seldom granted for listed buildings.

Former The Majestic, cinema, Clapham High St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-41 — *Former Majestic, cinema, Clapham High St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-41*

The Majestic Cinema at 146 Clapham High St was designed by John Stanley Beard and opened in 1914.
The narrow front entrance – another shopfront between shops – leads to a large auditorium behind behind the shops. It seems that one of the names on the title deeds was Charles Chaplin. The cinema was taken over in 1928 and became part of Gaumont British Cinemas in 1929. Bomb damage closed it for a few months in 1940-1 and in 1950 it was re-named Gaumont Theatre, closing ten years later in 1960.

*Majestic Cinema, Stonhouse St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-24*

The side of the cinema gives a better idea of its scale. After it closed as a cinema, the balcony was converted into a recording studio, Majestic Studios, continuing in use even after the main space became a bingo club in 1969, though probably not operating during the same hours. Among those who recorded there were Brian Eno. Adam Faith, David Bowie and the Sex Pistols.

In 1985 it became Cinatra’s nightclub and is now Infernos night club and disco. There are now new blocks on each side of the cinema building.

Langley Electrical, 156-8, Stonhouse St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-25 — *Langley Electrical, 158, Stonhouse St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-25*

Langley Electrical, the first of this row of buildings on the opposite side of the street just past the cinema has been removed but the rest from 156 survives and has been tidied up and the ground floor shops mainly converted to residential use.

*Houses, 34-40, Voltaire Rd, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-13*

I walked along Clapham High Street, wandering a little down the side streets off the north side, and turning down Clapham Manor Road to Voltaire Road, where I amused myself a little with this image, hiding the foreground with the van and the ball on the top of a gate post. I think that gate has since been demolished but the houses are still there.

*Shops, Clapham High St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5k-61*

This picture was taken across the road from the corner with Voltaire Road. There are still shops though looking rather less run down and housing different businesses and the houses behind are still there but no longer advertise the CASH SUPPLY STORES selling VEGETABLES CAULIFLOWERS and something illegible or THE MUSIC ROLL EXCHANGE offering Gramophone Records and claiming to have the LARGEST STOCK OF SECONDHAND MUSIC ROLLS IN ALL LONDON.

The railings have also gone, replaces around 2012 with some stands for locking bikes.

My walk on Sunday 28th May 1989 will continue in another post.

Citroen & More Clapham

Citroen & More Clapham continues my walk on Sunday 28th May 1989. The previous post was North St, Rectory Gardens & Rectory Grove and the walk began with Lavender Hill & Wandsworth Rd – 1989.

*Car, Rectory Grove, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-52*

Although cars in my pictures now often attract attention when I post the on Flickr, I seldom deliberately photographed them, but this is one exception. I think even I might have identified this as a Citroen, but it was only after I posted it that one of my regular commenters identified it as dating from 1938. So it was 51 years old when I took its picture, and apparently is still around and still taxed for road use.

The house it is parked in front of is 12 Rectory Grove, at the end of a short Grade II listed terrace at 12-18, which dates it only as “Early-mid C19”.

*Rectory Grove, Rectory Gardens, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-56*

I walked back south down Rectory Grove, again passing the entrance to Rectory Gardens which I wrote about in my previous post on this walk. As you can see there are shops on Rectory Grove, one still open in 1989 and I think selling pottery. These buildings were rather grander than those in Rectory Gardens, with three storeys. Between the two shops was I think the entrance to flats above. There was another shop beyond this corner building and may once have been a couple more, although these were I think residential in 1989.

*Shops, Rose & Crown, Old Town, The Polygon, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-46*

Continuing south I came to Old Town and The Polygon with this Grade II listed corner shop with its row of seven large oilmen’s jars above its mid-19th century shop fronts. The building itself is perhaps a little over a hundred years earlier.

Oilmen sold oil to the public, mainly for use in lighting before the introduction of gas and electric lighting, and often used ancient pots and their pictures in advertising. Large jars of this shape were used for the transport of oil by ship, often containing around 20 gallons, and when full these thick earthenware vessels must have weighed 70 kilograms or more. They were protected in transit with rope cases, but moving them must have been heavy work.

But I think these may well have been ‘single-use’ rather than being returned to source for refilling. Jars were often sawn in half as in Clapham as shop signs in the 19th century and were always then painted red, and often fixed like these above the shop windows. Many came from the Mediterranean filled with olive oil, though whale oil was more commonly used for lighting until the supply fell off and it was replaced by mineral oils.

The People's Church, Grafton Square, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-35 — *The People’s Church, Grafton Square, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-35*

Designed by William Nevin as a Baptist Church in 1889, the building was renovated and opened as the People’s Church in 1959. Sold after the roof collapsed, it is now the Grafton Square Surgery and The Grafton apartment building, where a loft flat sold recently for around £2m.

*Pyramid, Old Town, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-36*

I’d photographed this decoration above the shop Pyramid only a few weeks earlier, but the lighting was right and I couldn’t resist making another picture – and I was also keen to get a better image of the crest. Here’s what I wrote about it earlier:

Walking down the street took me the Old Town, where the light was showing the device on the house at No 12 here with its proverb ‘CONTENTEMENT PASSE RICHESSE‘, the motto of the Atkins-Bowyer family. Richard Bowyer (d1820) had taken on the name when he inherited the Manor of Clapham from Sir Richard Atkins of Clapham. I’ve never quite worked out what the relief which is thought to have come from the old Manor House is meant to depict.

*Pyramid, Old Town, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-21*

Back in 1989 I didn’t own a decent long telephoto lens – the longest I owned were a 90mm for the Leica and a 105mm for the Olympus. I think this was probably taken with the 105mm and the device on the wall is certainly clearer, but no easier for me to interpret. At the top there appear to be three animals with a bird, perhaps an ostrich standing on top of what could be a crocodile or dragon or hound with perhaps a snake on the bird’s back, its head going down to the croc.

Below that with the motto spread over it is what could be cloth hanging from spars or perhaps flames or who knows what, and at the bottom a shield with stripes and what looks like two chickens with their wings up above and one below a row of stars. Perhaps others will know more and comment.

The old manor house was only finally demolished in 1837, though its octagonal tower had been taken down around 1810, perhaps because it was unsafe. It was probably this tower that led to the street laid out on the site, near St Paul’s Clapham being named Turret Grove.

*Trinity Close, Flats, The Pavement, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5j-22*

Continuing south along The Pavement took me to this large 1936 development of flats on five storeys with some little interesting At Deco features of which this gate post and porch are perhaps the best. I think that the post (and its partner on the other side of the entrance) may have been built to support an entrance light, but there was no sign of it. The building, which extends back some distance in a roughly H-shape replaced three existing buildings on The Pavement.

It was designed by J J de Segrais and three of its top floor flats on this side have balconies with views over Clapham Common. At the centre just below roof level is a small sculptural decoration which I didn’t try to photograph. Trinity Close is is joined at its north side to another large 1930s block of flats, Windsor Court (which for some reason I didn’t photograph.) It has the date A. D, 1935 on its ‘moderne’ frontage and shops along its ground floor. A tunnel through a wide entrance at the right of this block leads to the rear of both blocks.

Clapham and The Grand

Clapham and The Grand: It was not until near the end of May 1989 that I found time to return and take pictures in south London. On Saturday 27th May I took the train to Clapham Junction and a bus up Lavender Hill to begin my walk in Clapham.

*Shops, Spiritualist Church entrance, North St, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5h-21*

I took a couple of pictures at the east end of Lavender Hill and the start of Wandsworth Road, not on-line, and then walked down North Street to make a couple of pictures of the entrance to the Spiritualist Church and the shops on each side.

Shops, Old Town, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5h-22 — *Shops, Old Town, Clapham, Lambeth, 1989 89-5h-2*2

Walking down the street took me the Old Town, where the light was showing the device on the house at No 12 here with its proverb ‘CONTENTEMENT PASSE RICHESSE’, the motto of the Atkins-Bowyer family. Richard Bowyer (d1820) had taken on the name when he inherited the Manor of Clapham from Sir Richard Atkins of Clapham. I’ve never quite worked out what the relief which is thought to have come from the old Manor House is meant to depict.

My walk continued along Clapham Common Northside, but it was some distance before I made my next picture.

*60 Clapham Common Northside, Lambeth, 1989 89-5h-23*

Maitland House at 60 Clapham Common Northside dates from 1790-1792 and is Grade II listed. According to the Survey of London it was one of a pair and “was built originally for one John Bleaden, but took its name from its next occupant, Ebenezer Maitland, a Coleman Street merchant, who lived here from 1796 until his death in 1834“. Maitland House’s “distinctive entrance porch of Tuscan columns supporting a bowed first-floor window” in my pictures appears not to have been a part of the original design but to have been added a few years after the pair was built. The other half of the once matching pair, Bell House, was demolished in the 1890s for the building of Taybridge Road and replaced by the current house at No 61, built along with No 59 in 1894-5.

*Forthbridge Rd, Clapham, Wandsworth, 1989 89-5h-25*

I continued along Clapham Common Northside but made no more pictures there. My next stop came after I turned up Forthbridge Road, one of streets built here between 1890 and 1895 by developers John Cathles Hill and Charles J Bentley who bought and demolished some of the earlier large detached houses.

These streets are not without detail of architectural interest but are relatively standard late-Victorian two-storey houses. However this particular house at No 20 stood out for its later added embellishments, perhaps not entirely appropriate or consonant with the Victorian doorways with the leaf motif concrete blocks and rather kitsch sculpture which occupied my next three near-identical frames – only one of which I’ve put on line.

*Sisters Avenue, Battersea, Wandsworth, 1989 89-5h-16*

I continued walking north, going up Nansen Road and Stormont Road to Lavender Hill and then walking west, looking down the various turnings but not finding much to excite my interest until
I came to Sisters Ave.

I made a picture of this row of three-story houses, but it was the incredibly solid gate posts that held my interest – and which I have put this picture online. I think I saw them as some giant row of pawns on the chessboard of Clapham, or perhaps some Maginot Line of soliders defending against marauders from Battersea, where I was now heading.

The Grand Theatre, St John's Hill, Battersea, Wandsworth, 1989 89-5i-51 — *The Grand Theatre, St John’s Hill, Battersea, Wandsworth, 1989 89-5i-51*

I continued walking down Lavender Hill and across the junction at The Falcon to St John’s Hill to photograph this building while the light was right. Designed by Ernest Woodrow and built for a group led by well-known music hall stars including Dan Leno it opened in 1900 as The New Grand Theatre of Varieties with a huge stage and room for an audience of 3,000.

It was a highly successful venue for many years and in 1927 began to show films as well as live variety shows as The Grand Theater. From 1950 to 1963 it was only a cinema, and after it was bought by Essoldo became Essoldo Cinema. Essoldo opened it as a Bingo club after closing it as a cinema and it continued under others as a bingo club until 1979. It was Grade II listed in 1983.

In 1989 when I took this picture it was still closed, but that year it was bought to be converted to a live music venue, opening in 1991 and closing in 1997. Wetherspoons then wanted to open it as a pub but were refused a licence. Eventually it was reopened as “an independently run venue which functions as a nightclub, live music venue, theatre and event space.”

Conveniently the entrance to Clapham Junction was now opposite and it was time for me to take the train home. This was a rather shorter walk than most of my wanderings and I had made relatively few pictures, but I was to return the following day to continue my photography of the area on my next walk.

Railton Road, Herne Hill

The next episode in in the series of posts on my walk in south London on Sunday 7th May 1989. The walk began with Hanover, Belgrave, Chapel, Shops, Taxis. The previous post was Herne Hill, Dorchester and Carnegie.

*Shops, Railton Rd, Herne Hill, Lambeth, 1989 89-5f-62*

I wandered up Railton Road from the junction with Dulwich Road towards Herne Hill station. Herne Hill only appears to have got its name relatively recently, with the Herne Hill Society stating that the first documented reference dates from 1801. Earlier maps show it as King’s Hill or Dulwich Hill.

Neither of the two derivations they give seems particularly likely, with an Old English root hyrne (corner, angle) hyll seeming unlikely from the late appearance of the name and a roost of large numbers of heron on the nearby River Effra seems fanciful. Other possibilities put forward have been that it was named after a family called Herne who apparently lived here in the 17th century.

Perhaps the name really does come from Herne the Hunter, the mythical resident of Herne’s Oak in the Windsor Forest some twenty five miles or more to the west, transferred here by an early developer of the area who perhaps saw oak trees which reminded him of that place, perhaps also hearing the rattling of chains and ghostly moans in this area. Who knows?

Railton Road was apparently one of the roads developed in 1868, a few years after the coming of the railway, the station on this road opening in 1862. Until then the area had been one of large villas with leafy gardens for the wealthy, but soon became full of “smaller houses for clerks, artisans, craftsmen and their families, the workers taking advantage of cheap fares for commuting into London.“

*Shops, Railton Rd, Herne Hill, Lambeth, 1989 89-5f-63*

The building at 222 Railton Road, here the Herne Hill Bingo and Social Club, was the Herne Hill Cinema, said to have opened in 1914, although there appears according to a postcard on Brixton Buzz to have been a cinema around here earlier than that. It’s narrow facade opened to a much wider auditorium behind which could seat 750.

Brixton Buzz quotes Cinema Treasures giving more information about its 1932 design by George Coles and closure as a cinema in 1959, but says it continued in use as a bingo club until 1986, then becoming shuttered and empty. Clearly it was locked and barred when I photographed it in 1989, and has a notice too small to read on its door, but doesn’t look in too poor condition. It is now a private bar, but apparently the auditorium area behind was demolished and housing built on the site.

*Herne Hill Station, Railton Rd, Herne Hill, Lambeth, 1989 89-5f-66*

Herne Hill Station was opened at the bottom of Herne Hill on Railton Road by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1862. At first it was a terminus, with services only towards Victoria, but a year later the line was extended to Beckenham and by the end of the decade there were also services to “the City of London, King’s Cross, Kingston via Wimbledon, and Kent, including express trains to Dover Harbour for continental Europe.“

The building with its polychrome brick Gothic tower seems excessive for what was a small suburban station, and was certainly intended to impress. The tower held the water tank needed by steam locomotives. The Wikipedia article quotes The Building News description of the station from 1863 as “spacious and convenient … and of the very best quality” and states “an unusual amount of decorative taste has been displayed“. It became an exempler of Victorian railway architecture.

*Shops, Railton Rd, Herne Hill, Lambeth, 1989 89-5f-65*

This view looks toward the corner with Rymer St, which now takes traffic from Railton Road to Dulwich Road as Railton Road a little further north is now a no-entry street for motorised traffic other than buses.

At left is 200 Railton Road and at right, next to an alley is an accomodation bureau and letting service at 289, now the home of Herne Hill Books. Apparently this stretch of road was until 1888 known as Lett Street. The alley was once a public footpath, and looks as if it was still in 1989.

This view still looks much the same now, with the two 19-storey blocks of Park View House and Herne Hill House in Hurst Street, each built in 1966 with 72 flats, towering over the neighbourhood. Park View House many be blessed with a view of Brockwell Park, but unfortunately you can see it and its neighbouring tower from the park.

*Railton Rd, Rymer St, Herne Hill, Lambeth, 1989 89-5f-51*

A closer view of 200 Railton Road. I have been unable to find out more about this building. Two of the three ground-floor shops appear to have been converted to to residential use by the time I made this picture.

*Shops, Railton Rd, Herne Hill, Lambeth, 1989 89-5f-55*

I walked back down south down Railton Road to the junction with Dulwich Rd, stopping to photograph this terrace of shops at 315-323 Railton Road. This is now a pedestrian area and the shops are rather different in nature.

I liked the sign at left on 315, ‘Only the best is good enough for me‘ though with the metal shutters up on a Sunday I could not be sure what it sold, though I think it was probably a greengrocers.

To be concluded in another post.

In Jiro World

Jiro Osuga
Departures
Flowers Gallery
82 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DP
19 May – 1 July 2023

Last Thursday I was delighted to attend the opening of the latest show by Jiro Osuga, Departures at the Flowers Gallery in Hoxton, London.

I’ve known Jiro for many years and have long admired his work in previous shows at Flowers, including in 2009 when I wrote here about his transformation of their Mayfair gallery into Café Jiro, (more pictures on My London Diary) later shown in the real Queen’s Terrace Café run for a few years by london and art historian Mirelle Galinou.

The work from ‘Café Jiro’ also featured in ‘Pub Jiro‘, his takeover aided by Mireille of the upper floor of the Horse & Groom in Streatham, part of the 2017 Streatham Festival and celebrating the publication of her The Streatham Sketchbook.

Jiro has also been a great help in the hanging of several of exhibitions I’ve worked on over the years, I think the first of which was Cities of Walls, Cities of People in 2001, which I curated for now long missed London Arts Café.

I don’t often review art shows, though I used to write much more about photography exhibitions, and I won’t say a great deal about this one, which I think is Jiro Osuga’s most ambitious and impressive to date, transforming the large space of the Kingsland Road gallery into an airport departure lounge, covering the walls with giant paintings which, according to the gallery cover more than 160 square metres.

The gallery web site shows the works but to really appreciate them you have to go there and stand in the space, where they are far more vibrant and enveloping. Or perhaps you really need to sit and contemplate them, enjoying the wealth of objects and characters from painting, film and real life they include. As the gallery states, the paintings creat “an unfolding state for individual and often unexpected narratives to occur“. There is an immense wit and imagination in this and other work by Jiro.

Actual airport departure lounges are some kind of hell of consumerism, to be avoided at all costs (and part of an industry that is costing the earth.) But don’t miss spending some time with this work, on show until 1st July 2023.

There are more pictures from the opening in my album Jiro Osuga – Departures Opening. I haven’t named those shown in the pictures, though some may tag themselves, but you may recognise two fine photographers as well as others among them.

St Omer & Arques 1993

Mostly I’ve photographed London over the past 50 or so years, with just a few earlier pictures that I think I have lost, including the first film I ever had processed, of ancient oak trees in Richmond Park back in 1962. It cost me 17s 6d to get it processed and it was years before I could afford to do more. I think all of the pictures are now lost. But I have also photographed elsewhere, particularly in Hull and Paris, and also on a number of holidays, some where I’ve perhaps taken photography more seriously than others. But I’ve always had a camera with me.

A few of those holidays have been cycling holidays, including a ride up the Loire valley and a couple of others in northern France. France is a better place to cycle than the UK for various reasons. It still has mile after mile of largely empty rural roads and French drivers have a much more positive attitude towards cyclists. More of them are cyclists themselves or have been.

One such holiday was in late August 1993, when I went with my wife and two sons, aged 14 and 17 to northern France. Our rides were fairly leisurely with not the slightest whiff of Lycra and frequent stops for me to repair the punctures of the others or carry out other running repairs. My own bike, a 1956 Cinelli bought secondhand for me by my eldest borther for my 13th birthday performed without any such problems. I’ve recently scanned and put the pictures from our holiday into a Flickr album.

Two things made that difficult. One was the poor trade processing of the colour negative film I used, with one film having two large gouges across most frames along with some other damage which required extensive digital retouching. I tried out Photshops new AI filter which removed them perfectly – but also took out some other parts of the image, so I went back to doing the job manually.

Tower, Hauts-de-France, France, 1993, 93c08-01-71

But what took as much or rather more time was trying to identify the locations for many of the images. I’ve done my best, but some are still rather vague and others may be wrong. I’m hoping that some viewers on Flickr will help and tell me more. If you know the area around Calais, Ardres, St Omer, Arques and Cassel please do take a look. The pictures are rather mixed up in order, and I was using two cameras, both with colour negative film, for reasons I can not now understand.

Canal, Rue des Faiseurs de Bateaux, Saint-Omer, Hauts-de-France, France, 1993, 93c08-01-41

On 23 August 1993 we made an early morning start on a train to Clapham Junction and rode from there to Victoria. The train to Dover and the crossing to Calais for the four of us cost £42 for a fivee-day return ticket and our bikes travelled free. We arrived in mid-afternoon and an easy ride took us to the hotel we had booked in Ardres.

Bridge, Canal, Hauts-de-France, France, 1993, 93c08-01-43

The following day was a more difficult ride, and we had a nasty few minutes when Joseph’s chain came off and jammed between sprockets and hub far from any town or village, close to the high speed line then being built for Eurostar, work on which had involved us in a number of detours, and for years I’d look out of the window a few minutes after we came out of the tunnel and recognise the short uphill stretch were it happened.

Blockhaus d'Éperlecques, Éperlecques, France

Eventually after much sweating I managed to free it and we could proceed. For some reason we had decided to visit the Blockhaus d’Eperlecques, built in 1943 as a base to launch V2 rockets at Britain, but destroyed by bombing and now a French National Monument with some very large holes in its concrete roof.

Our route to it involved a rather large hill but we were able to rest a bit and look around the site before continuing on our journey to St Omer. Here we found another slight problem with our French map, which showed what looked like a nice quiet route on to Arques. It turned out to be an abandoned railway track, complete with sleepers and impossible to ride. After struggling for a while we turned back and took the N42 instead and soon reached Arques.

L'Ascenseur à Bateaux des Fontinettes, Arques, France

At Arques we were just in time for the last guided tour of the day of the 1888 boat lift, L’Ascenseur à Bateaux des Fontinettes, modelled on the Anderton lift in Cheshire, replacing 5 locks and taking 22 minutes to transfer boats up and down by 13.13 metres – 43 ft. It was closed in 1967 as traffic had grown considerably and replaced by a single modern lock.

A la Grande Ste Catherine, Hotel, Hauts-de-France, France, 1993, 93c08-01-52

At Arques we had booked a three night stay at ‘A la Grande Ste-Catherine’ . Including breakfasts for us all and a couple of dinners for the two of us (our two sons wouldn’t eat proper French food) this cost 1832 Francs, then a little over £200. They ate frites and burgers from a street stall, though one night we did all manage to find food for all of us at a supermarket restaurant.

The next day we returned to look around St Omer, and then rode to Tilques, abandoning saddles for a boat trip around le Marais Audomarois, one of the more interesting parts of our visit.

And for our last full day in France we took a ride to Cassel, a town on a hill that rises to the highest point on the Plain of Flanders, surrounded by flat lands in all directions, taking an indirect route via the Forêt Domaniale de Rihoult (Clairmarais), rather disappointing as it was full of noisy schoolkids from their colonies de vacances.

It was a struggle up the hill to Cassel, and we were glad to rest for a while at the cafe inside the grim fortress of a Flemish language radio station – former a casino and I think the local Gestapo headquarters. Our ride back to Arques was by the direct route and began with a long downhill stretch where no pedalling was needed for a very long way.

Finally came our last day, and I planned an easy route back to Calais, mainly beside canals. But the others objected and demanded a visit to the Eurotunnel exhibition on the way, which held us up considerably, not least because most of the roads had been diverted to build the high speed line and our map was fairly useless. We finally managed to catch the 19.15 ferry, a few hours before our ticket expired.

Many more pictures in the Flickr album Northern France – St Omer.

High Rise, Houses, Car Parts, and a Club

Continuing my walk in Peckham in March 1989. The previous post on this walk was Asylum, Lorry Park, Works, Museum & Office Door.

Bird in Bush Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-21 — *Bird in Bush Road, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-21*

I spent some time exploring the area around Malt Street and Ossory Road, now on the other side of Asda, where some demolition was taking place but took few photographs, none on-line, and then walked back along along the Old Kent Road to Peckham Park Road, going down this to Green Hundred Road. I found myself in a large area of council housing, much of which was fairly standard LCC five storey blocks dating from the late 1930s, solidly built, their height limited back then by the lack of lifts.

The foreground flats in this picture are from the late 60s and are on Bird in Bush Road, part of the GLC designed Ledbury Estate, and as well as these 4-storey maisonette blocks there were also four identical 14 floor H shape tower blocks, including this one, Bromyard House, which has its entrance on Commercial Way.

*Bird in Bush Road, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-22*

This picture was taken from close to the east end of Bird in Bush Road, and the building cut off at extreme left of the image is the former Arthur Street Board School (now Camelot Primary School.)

The design dates of these flats, also on the Ledbury estate, is from the early 1960s and was replicated across London by the GLC, using the prefabricated Danish Larsen-Nielsen system. After one at Ronan Point suffered a disastrous collapse following a gas explosion flats built using this system should have been strengthened, but somehow Southwark Council failed to do so on this estate. I’m not sure whether this had now been put right. but none have yet collapsed.

*Doddington Cottages, Commercial Way, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-24*

This semi-detached residence dating from 1836 which was Grade II listed together with the neighbouring Doddington Place around nine years after I took this picture.

The name possibly comes from Doddington Hall in Cheshire, built by Samuel Wyatt for Sir Thomas Broughton in 1777-90 and its parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. There is also Doddington Place at Doddington near Sittingbourne in Kent, but this was only built around 1870.

*Tustin Estate, Old Kent Rd, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-11*

The Tustin Estate is on the north side the Old Kent Road immediately west of Ilderton Road. It has three 20 storey towers, Windermere Point, Grasmere Point (in the centre here) and Ambleside Point, each with over 70 flats which were approved by the GLC in 1964. There are also six low-rise blocks on the estate.

According to Southwark Council, “In March 2021, residents voted in favour of demolishing and rebuilding the low-rise buildings in a residents’ ballot. This will include replacement council homes, additional council homes and key worker housing, shared equity homes and homes for private sale. There will also be a replacement school building, new commercial spaces and a new park. All existing residents will be able to move to a new council home in the first phase of the scheme.” I’m unsure how far this scheme has so far progressed and it remains to be seen whether the council will keep its promises, which it almost completely failed to do on some earlier schemes.

*Clifton Crescent, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-13*

I returned to Clifton Crescent which I had photographed earlier and too a rather better and closer picture of this magnificent curved terrace. As I explained earlier, it was Southwark Council’s decision in 1972 to demolish this crescent that led to a local action group which became the Peckham Society in 1975. Fortunately they managed to stop the demolition when only No 1 had been lost. They convinced the council that retaining and restoring the properties was a cheaper option, and the lost house was rebuilt and the entire crescent, Grade II listed thanks to their efforts in 1974, was restored by 1977. The Crescent was built in 1847-51 and represents an interesting transition between earlier Regency styles and the simpler Victorian terraces.

*Car spares, Loder St, Peckham, Southwark, 1989 89-3c-15*

From there I made my way east, going under the railway on Culmore Road or Clifton Way and then south to Loder St. This whole area has been redeveloped since I made these pictures in 1989 and is now covered with low-rise housing. I made two pictures of this car breaker’s yard (you can see the other on Flickr).The tower blocks are those of the Tustin Estate.

Hatcham Liberal Club, Queen's Rd, New Cross, Lewisham, 1989 89-3d-61 — *Hatcham Liberal Club, Queen’s Rd, New Cross, Lewisham, 1989 89-3d-61*

I walked down to Queen’s Road, I think along York Grove, stopping briefly to photograph a street corner. On Queen’s Road before catching a bus I photographed the Hatcham Liberal Club, built in 1880 in Queen Anne Dutch style and Grade II listed ten years after I took this picture. It was one of the largest of a number of late Victorian working men’s clubs and became a popular venue with a large hall at the back available for hire for parties and gigs and also for until it closed in 2006. In 2009 most of the interior was converted into flats.

*Shops, John Ruskin St, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-3d-62*

I changed buses in Camberwell, where I made a slight detour to make another visit to photograph the row of shops on John Ruskin Street as the final picture of the day and this walk.

The first post about this walk was Shops, Removals, Housing and the Pioneer Health Centre. I’ll post about my next walk in 1989, in the City of London, shortly.

Jiro OsugaDeparturesFlowers Gallery82 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DP19 May – 1 July 2023

Jiro Osuga
Departures
Flowers Gallery
82 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DP
19 May – 1 July 2023