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More Hampstead – 1990

More Hampstead: More from my walk in Hampstead on Sunday 9th April 1990. The previous post was Hampstead Alleys, Hospital, Baths, House, Heath – 1990.

Hampstead wasn’t (and isn’t) an area of London I feel particularly sympathetic or comfortable in and I prefer the less affluent areas of the capital and those with more industry and that are less arty.

I worked hard at taking pictures but somehow find many of them less interesting and looking back at them over 30 years later have digitised a rather smaller proportion. The eight in this post come from around 60 that I took on this section of the walk, almost all carefully composed and correctly exposed. Probably I should go back and digitise more, but I think Hampstead is a part of London that many others have photographed and so my pictures are perhaps less important.

*Houses, Cannon Place, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4e-31*

I walked down from Hampstead Heath and turned into Cannon Place, where Sir Gerakd Du Maurier lived in Cannon Hall from 1916 until his death in 1935, and the childhood home of Daphne du Maurier and her siblings. The last Secretary of the East India Company had bought Rous Hall around 1838 and put a few old naval cannons in its grounds, renaming the house Cannon Hall. I haven’t digitised my picture of the Hall but found these two dogs mguarding the steps of one of the substantial Victorian houses in the neighbourhood.

*Lion House, 19, Well Rd, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4e-22*

Back on Well Road I took this picture of part of the Grade II listed Italianate Gothic Lion House, part of the large detached villa The Logs, built for civil engineer Edward Gotto (1822-1897) who was for several years in charge of North London’s sewers and went on to build sewers around the world. For him muck was obviously brass and this large house was designed by J.S. Nightingale and built by Charles Till in 1861. This section was named Lion House when the property was divided in 1951. Boy George lived in the Logs from the mid 1980s, and he sold his part of the house for £22million in 2022.

*House, Heath St, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4e-12*

This is the doorway of the Grade II listed Friends Meeting House at 120 Heath Street designed by Frederick Rowntree in the Arts and Crafts style, very much under the influence of Voysey and built in 1907. Among its famous visitors was Mahatma Gandhi who spoke here in 1909.

*Elm Row, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4e-16*

I think this is the alley with steps which leads from Elm Row to New End.

*Heath St, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4f-62*

The leaping sculptures here have long gone, and there are fences on top of the wall to give greater privacy to the residents of the property on the east side of the street just north of Elm Row. I think it was here that D H Lawrence and Frieda lived rather miserably after their return from New Mexico in 1923, along with Catherine and Donald Carswell, who was the lawyer who checked his work for possible libel claims.

But I can find nothing more about these sculptures.

*Hampstead Grove, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4f-51*

“The Hampstead Scientific Society observatory is one of the few places left in London that provides regular public viewings of the Moon, planets and other objects of interest in the night sky.” Though skies in London have so much light pollution that the view must be rather dim though being on the edge of the heath must help. It would still be interesting to book a free ticket if I lived closer.

The site is on the top of a Victorian covered reservoir, the Kidderpore Reservoir built in 1867 by the West Middlesex Water Company which still stores around 2.5 million gallons pumped here from water works at Hampton to supply 11,000 homes in the area. Still in use it was re-roofed in 2015 but still has its impressive Victorian architectural brickwork hidden away in the water.

*The Mount, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4f-23*

1 The Mount, on the corner of Hollybush Steps, has lost almost all of its interest since I made this picture in 1990. There is a new brick wall and tall hedging hides the front garden, though I think everything in it has gone, along with the vases on the steps, the lions and even the little roof over the door. It just looks neat and plain now.

*The Mount, Hampstead, Camden, 1990, 90-4f-24*

Most of this had changed by the time there appears to have been major building work on the site around 2019. What had been quirky and interesting is now rather dull. This large 3 bedroom end terrace house sold in 2017 for £2.64million.

Still more from Hampstead to come.

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Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee – 1990

Art Deco, Houses, Bingo and King of Lee: The final part of a short walk around Lewisham which took me to Ladywell before returning to catch a train in Lewisham. The previous post on this walk was Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham – 1990.

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-43 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*43

This classic Art Deco factory, at one time ‘Tickitape House’, home to Adhesive Specialities has sadly been demolished.

In Lewisham Council’s St Mary’s conservation area supplementary planning document it states:

“This building was built in the 1930s as Neuk Laundry in a simple ‘Moderne’ style by a local builder, Mr Howkins. It was altered in 1988-9 by another local firm, Rainey and Rainey, which added metal windows and a clock and heightened the parapets, giving the building a more Art Deco style.”

Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-45 — Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990 *90-4c-*45

Unfortunately local listing and being a popular local landmark that, according to the council “makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation” area and their comment that “Any development on this site should therefore retain the main body of the Art Deco building” fell on deaf ears of the developers, and despite considerable local opposition it was completely demolished and replaced by undistinguished student housing around 2009.

*Tickitape House, Works, Art Deco, 59, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-46*

Perhaps the building did not fall within the criteria needed for national listing, though many far less interesting buildings have been listed. But the architectural community and particularly as this was represented by such vital figures as Nikolaus Pevsner in the past had a very snooty attitude to Art Deco and Moderne buildings, regarding them as of little merit compared to the true modernism of the age. It doesn’t get even a fleeting mention in London 2:South.

*Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-44*

My interest was caught by the rather ramshackle buildings in the centre of the picture and I wondered what their original purpose could have been, with what appear to be doors at first-floor level and ventilators on top. My first thought was pigeon lofts and others have suggested stables. I think they have since been rebuilt in a similar form in Mercy Terrace.

*Houses, Ladywell Rd, Ladywell, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-33*

Breeze blocks fill the windows and doors of the foreground house in this terrace and I think were there to prevent squatting of the property which has since been renovated.

*Mecca Leisure, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-34*

The Bingo Hall was built as a Temperance Billiards Hall in 1910, and I wrote more about this in my previous post. Left derelict for some years after the last Bingo session it has been slowly and carefully restored by the Tabernacle Church.

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-35*

No trace remains of King of Lee Motors at 256 Lewisham High St, a scrap yard offering a wide range of reconditioned and reclaimed motor spares from stock, immediately south of the railway bridge on Lewisham High Street. They apparently paid “TOP CASH PRICES” for “FAILED MO.O.T., DAMAGED, NON RUNNERS, INSURANCE WRITE-OFFS” and their buyers will call to collect them – evenings and weekends.

Curness Street now runs here,. leading to new flats built between 2003 and 2006

*King Of Lee, Motors, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-36*

Finally I took three portrait format near identical images of the gate, fascinated by the remains of a telegraph pole with its various wires and strands of deadplants. Although the yard claimed to be open ‘7 DAYS’ I had managed to find one where it was firmly closed with a car wedged against its frontage.

It was time to make for the station and go home.

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Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham – 1990

Ravensbourne, Quaggy & More -Lewisham: The real end of my walks on April 1st 1990 was a short walk around Lewisham. The previous post from these walks was Monkey Business, Wrecked Cars & Roupell – 1990.

*River Ravensbourne, River Quaggy, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-11*

Arriving at Lewisham Station I crossed to the opposite platform and walked along it away from the exit to photograph this view looking south along the River Ravensbourne which curves away to the west – towards the right of the frame. Just after the river runs down a small slope it is joined by Lewisham’s other river, the smaller flow of the River Quaggy. There is now a small park, Confluence Park, where the two rivers meet, opened in 2021.

The scrap yard and the car sales and Allied Carpets are gone replace and the whole area redeveloped with tall blocks since around 2020. There is now another tall apartment block – around 15 storeys tall – to the left of the river,

Maggie's Cafe, Silk Mills Path, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-14 — Maggie’s Cafe, Silk Mills Path, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-14

Silk Mills Path runs alongside the north platform of the station and Maggie’s is still there now offering Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner. It gets excellent customer reviews for its reasonably priced meals and friendly staff. At right one of the arches leads under the railway to Station Road.

Lewisham did have a number of mills using power from the flow of the Ravensbourne, and the silk mills were a short distance downstream on its east bank at the end of Conington Road, close to Elverson Road DLR station. The site is now occupied by flats, built around 20 years ago. The mill had a large mill pond, part of which is now Tesco’s car park.

Although there are still some mulberry trees in the area, the essential feed for the silk worms, the Lewisham mill apparently relied on imported silk.

*Houses, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4b-15*

The River Quaggy runs in a an open channel in front of this long terrace at 15-31 Lewisham High Street, some way below street level, emerging into this from a tunnel under the central streets of Lewisham. It can next be seen from a bridge on Clarendon Rise just south of Lee High Road – see below.

*River Ravensbourne, Riverdale House, Molesworth St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-64*

The Ravensbourne runs under recent flats on Molesworth Street and can be seen from the west side of the street where it runs under the railway line there. There is a small park, River Mill Park, with a bridge across the river.

This section of the river was channelled between tall concrete banks I think in the 1960s to alleviate the flood risk. The rather fortress-like Riverdale House was designed by Frederick Gibberd in 1981 as offices. In 2013 planning permission was granted for its conversion into luxury flats.

The site had a mill at the time of the Domesday Book and Riverdale Mill was restored as flats when this new building was erected on the rest of the site. It was built on the site of earlier mills as a leather mill in 1828, later becoming a flour mill and in 1901 was bought and turned into the John Wallis bakery, closing around 1970. It is the only remaining mill building in Lewisham.

*Houses, St Stephens Grove, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-66*

The River Quaggy emerges from a tunnel under the end of St Stephen’s Grove where it meets Lewisham High Street at the south side of Saint Stephen With Saint Mark, Lewisham, a Grade II listed Parish Church by Sir George Gilbert Scott built in 1863. This and St Stephen’s Terrace also date from the mid-1860s.

90-4c-52-Edit — *River Quaggy, Clarendon Rise, Lewsiham, 1990, 90-4c-52*

The Quaggy apparently got its name for being very muddy – a real quagmire. Here it runs along the backs of the buildings on Lee High Road.

Following pressure from and plans developed by the Quaggy Waters Action Group under the name Operation Kingfisher in 1995, parts of the river have been restored to a more natural state and brought back above ground. Much of the work already completed has been driven by the need to control flooding by the river.

*Mecca Leisure, Lewisham High St, Lewisham, 1990, 90-4c-54*

Taken from the pavement in front of the building at 233-241 Lewisham High St, this shows some detail of the building, built as a Temperance Billiards Hall in 1910, architect Norman Evans, the company architect for Temperance Billiard Halls Ltd. This Grade II listed building was derelict when bought as new premises for The Tabernacle Church around 2010 and is slowly and carefully being restored – details on their web site.

Later on the walk I photographed the building again from across the road which gives a far better impression of the building when it was in use as a Mecca Bingo Hall – I’ll post this picture in the final post on this walk shortly.

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Reservoir, Castle & Lordship Lane – 1990

Reservoir, Castle & Lordship Lane: My walk on April 1st 1990 began at Finsbury Park Station and the first post, Brownswood Park Finsbury Park – 1990, ended on Green Lanes where this post begins.

*Reservoir, Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1990, 90-4a-45*

The New River Path leads from Green Lanes immediately north of the ‘Castle’ and I think I walked from this path to the bank of the West reservoir to make this picture. There have been considerable changes in the area and I can no longer identify the trees or buildings in my view.

The West Reservoir next to the New River dates from 1833, and I think this section of fencing probably dates from when it was enlarged in the 1850s or a little later. The associated filter beds have been built on, but a vigorous local ‘Save the Reservoirs’ campaign in the 1980s saved the reservoirs, with the West used for water sports and the East as a nature reserve.

*Reservoir, Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1990, 90-4a-46*

I think this was a part of the filter beds which have now gone. I liked the shadow of the fence and the wheel which presumably operated a valve to control the flow of water, perhaps to the pumping station.

Sand in the filter beds was first used to effectively removed most particles from the water but it was later realised that the slime which grew on top of the sand was very effective in killing bacteria to increase the safety of the water and sand filtration still plays an important role in producing our clean drinking water.

*Reservoir, Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1990, 90-4a-32*

I think the man in the picture is a bird-watcher rather than a photographer and is holding up binoculars to his eyes. Many migrating species take a rest at our reservoirs and birders flock to watch them.

*The Castle, Waterworks, Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1990, 90-4a-21*

The gothic fantasy waterworks, built to house massive steam-powered beam engines in 1854–1856 seen from close by – I needed a very wide lens to include the whole height of the tower. According to Industrial History Online “The original six beam engines, two by Watt & Co and 4 by Simpson were removed in 1953.” I think these were then scrapped. You can see similar beam engines in the highly recommended London Museum of Water & Steam in Brentford.

*House, Waterworks, Lordship Park, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1990, 90-4a-24*

On Green Lanes I walked south and turned down Lordship Park. Here I got a view of the Castle. I think the tower at right is a disguised chimney and the square section on top of that at the left may have held the tank that water was pumped into to give the pressure for supply to customers.

*Man Reading, House, Lordship Park, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1990, 90-4a-13*

Another picture in Lordship Park shows the very solid looking houses built there dating from around 1865. These are three storeys with a basement, the steps rising to an elevated ground floor, built in a Victorian Gothic style with the entrances recessed with a side window giving a somewhat clerical look; they have is some nice ornamental brickwork but in a fairly restrained fashion.

There are quite a few of these houses on both sides of thee street and I picked this view because of the man sitting reading the Sunday Mirror on the steps.

*Lion, Brothers of Islam, Lordship Park, Stoke Newington, Hackney, 1990, 90-4a-16*

A final picture on this street shows the passageway between two houses with a small flowerbed looked over by a lion, and on the post at right in the freely written message ‘Brothers of ISLAM’.

My walk, now in Stoke Newington, continued – more later.

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Court, Citadel, Gas & Brewery – 1990

Court, Citadel, Gas & Brewery continues the occasional series on my walk on Sunday 4th March 1990 had begun at Clapham Junction in Battersea with St John’s Road & East Hill, Battersea – 1990. The previous post, Quakers, Beer, a Palace and the Wandle – 1990 had ended with me at the north end of Garratt Lane in the centre of Wandsworth.

Courthouse Community Centre, Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3b-42 — *Courthouse Community Centre, 11, Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3b-42*

This was built in 1858 apparently as one of the first courts under the 1846 County Courts Act and is Grade II listed.

It was alleged to be near-derelict in the 1970s when it was first Grade II listed and was handed over to Wandsworth Council, becoming a community centre for the Arndale Estate. Then it became the Wandsworth Museum but that was closed in 2008 to turn it into Wandworth Library. The museum was moved West Hill Library then closed in 2015. In 2014 the council decided to move the library and to sell or let the building . I think it is now offices.

*Salvation Army Citadel, Ram St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3b-43*

I crossed Wandsworth High Street and walked up Ram Street. stopping to take this view of the Salvation Army Citadel, built in 1907, but now replaced in 2008 by a more modern building. Doubtless a much more functional building its rounded lines have nothing of the military features of the old with its castellated tower.

The Wandsworth Gas Company gasholder is no longer visible. Gasholders such as this were still in use for storage and to regulate gas pressure for some years after the changeover to natural gas and the closure of our gas works. Once a common feature of our townscapes, most have now gone, with just a few of the guide frames of particular interest being listed and saved, some converted to contain flats.

I think this one was dismantled around 15 years ago, but at least until recently its base could be seen from the railway line to the north.

*Gas Holder, Swandon Way, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-54*

A closer view of the gasholder which clearly shows the three sections which would be lifted up inside each other by the gas as more gas was pumped into the holder (and were known as lifts.) The first ‘telescopic’ gasholder was invented in 1824. This example was built in 1972 and was said to be the largest of its type in the UK. Gas was stored at only a little above atmospheric pressure

*Gas Holder, Houses, Barchard St, Ram St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3b-44*

Controversial plans were approved by Wandsworth council for the redevelopment of the gas works site to include a 29 storey tower – rather taller than the old gasholder. I think that the massive concrete base which held the water to seal the bottom of the gas holder is to be retained to save the huge environmental cost of its removal.

I rather liked the way the old gasholders – here and elsewhere – contributed to the townscape, and they were certainly local landmarks. But the Wandsworth Society and other objectors are correct to point out the main tower block of the development with a height of 29 storeys, “is quite ‘out of context’ next to the River Wandle. The site of the tower cannot be considered to be a ‘town centre’ site nor is it close to a ‘cluster’ of buildings of a similar nature. The application cannot be considered to ‘make a positive contribution to local character and context’“.

*Gas Holder, Armoury Way, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3b-31*

A final picture of the gas holder.

*Ram Brewery, River Wandle, Wandsworth High St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3c-12*

The rest of the area north of the town centre has also seen massive redevelopment, though at least the major historic elements of the Ram Brewery have been retained – and now contain the Sambrook Brewery.

Here you can see one of the more modern parts of the brewery, which looked more like a chemical plant than how I imagine real beer being made.

The area is now covered by large bocks of around 4-7 storeys and I think the only thing visible in this image that remains is the brewery chimney. There is now a walk alongside the Wandle, but little of interest to see from it.

*Ram Brewery, River Wandle, Wandsworth High St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3c-15*

Young’s beers are now brewed by Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company in Bedford, though they have re-branded them to include London in their names.

*River Wandle, Armoury Way, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3b-32*

More from around the Wandle in a later post.

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St Anne’s and St Ann’s, Wandsworth – 1990

St Anne’s and St Ann’s, Wandsworth: My walk on Sunday 4th March 1990 had begun at Clapham Junction in Battersea with St John’s Road & East Hill, Battersea – 1990 and the previous post, More From Wandsworth 1990, had ended with a distant view of St Anne’s Church.

Houses, St Anne's Crescent, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-11 — Houses, St Ann’s Crescent, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-11

This area was towards the end of the 18th century still farmland, part of the Manor or All-Farthing, a small hamlet to the south of Wandsworth. An 1804 map shows there were still no houses here, only fields around what was then All Farthing Lane. The first houses were built here at the same time as the church, in the 1820s, but these are rather later in the century, probably around 1850.

At left is Surrey House, 6 St Anne’s Crescent. The two large semi-detached houses at 4-10 are shown on the 1873 OS map (on what was then St Anne’s Hill) and locally listed.

St Anne's Church, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-12 — *St Anne’s Church, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-12*

St Anne’s was one of five ‘Waterloo Churches’ in the Southwark diocese built “as monuments to the victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo. Building of Saint Anne’s Church began in 1820 and was completed in 1824. The architect was Sir Robert Smirke. The church was consecrated on 1 May 1824 as a chapel of ease to the Parish Church of All Saints, Wandsworth.“

Smirke was a remarkably prolific architect and “is known to have designed or remodelled over twenty churches, more than fifty public buildings and more than sixty private houses.” These included seven of the the Waterloo Churches, and he was an official government architect and an adviser to the scheme – the only example of government funded church-building which provided a total of £1.5 million to provide 612 new Anglican churches. It was a huge scheme costing equivalent to more than £125 billion allowing for inflation.

Plowden & Smith, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-13 — *Plowden & Smith, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-13*

I walked past the church to St Ann’s Hill (the church is St Anne’s but the street appears to have lost an ‘e’) and north along this. Plowden & Smith at 190-4, was established in 1966 and is a leading provider of art restoration services but they are now based in purpose-built premises on Morden Road, Mitcham. They left St Anne’s Hill around 2018. The building at 190 had previously been a sorting office and is now called Sorting House.

Plowden & Smith, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-14 — *Plowden & Smith, 190, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-14*

As well as giving a good view of the frontage of the building I also liked the car parked partly obstructing the large painted sign ‘NO PARKING IN FRONT OF THIS BUILDING’. The development has retained most of the brickwork of the Victorian frontage but with more window area, and behind it and largely unnoticed from street level is a much taller modern structure which includes 9 new flats.

Temporary Housing, St Anne's Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-15 — *Temporary Housing, St Ann’s Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-15*

As I wrote in an earlier post, “The LCC designed temporary housing together with the Timber Development Association as a temporary solution to the then acute housing problem. I think these may have been replaced by new housing on Malva Close built in 1993.

Designed to last 15 years these homes came as two boxes which were craned onto piles of paving slabs and did not need dug foundations. The two boxes were than bolted together. The walls were asbestos covered with plastic and both roof and floor were made from plywood sheets sandwiching polystyrene insulation. They had a hall, living room, two bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom.”

Many seemed to have found them comfortable and were reluctant to leave, often being rehoused in less convenient locations and in pokier flats.

More to follow on this walk around Wandsworth.

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More From Wandsworth 1990

More From Wandsworth: My walk on Sunday 4th March 1990 had begun at Clapham Junction in Battersea with St John’s Road & East Hill, Battersea and I had continued into Wandsworth with the post Mont Nod and Old York Road – Wandsworth 1990, ending with a view of York Road from the platform of Wandswoth Town Station.

Wandsworth Tyre Service, Old York Rd, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-52 — *Wandsworth Tyre Service, 543, Old York Rd, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-52*

I didn’t catch a train but came back down the stairs and on to York Road walking west along it. The Wandsworth Tyre Service was on the corner with Tonsley Hill and was one of many shops along the York Road, a kind of minor high street. There are still shops, but their character has changed greatly; this is now Pad Thai Story, the first of three authentic Thai restaurants set up by three Thai friends, here and in Battersea and Hammersmith and apparently highly recommended with, for London, reasonable prices. Back in 1990 I think the culinary peak of Old York Road was probably a fish and chip shop.

Next door, in what was then a doctor’s surgery is now a florist; there are a variety of other food outlets as well as several estate agents and a few more useful shops in a a fairly typical gentrified street.

According to various estate agents, this area, sometimes know as Tonsley for the several streets including this name, is one of Wandsworth’s most sought-after locations. An informative blog tells me “Tonsley Hall, the residence of Sir Richard Blackmore, the physician and poet who died in 1729… was pulled down in about the middle of the nineteenth century” but I cannot find why the house was given the name Tonsley.

The Grapes, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-53 — *The Grapes, 39, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-53*

I walked down to Fairfield Street – the fair field was in the area to the north of Old York Road. Merrie England in the Olden Time published in 1841 states:

 "Wandsworth Fair exhibited sixty years ago Mount Vesuvius,
 or the burning mountain by moonlight, rope, and hornpipe-
 dancing; a forest, with the humours of lion-catching;
 tumbling by the young Polander from Sadler's Wells; several
 diverting comic songs; a humorous dialogue between Mr.
 Swatehall and his wife; sparring matches; the Siege of
 Belgrade, &c. all for three-penee!

 On Whit-Monday, 1840, Messrs. Nelson and Lee sent down a
 theatrical caravan to Wandsworth Fair, and were moderately
 remunerated. But the “Grand Victoria Booth” was the rallying
 point of attraction. Its refectory was worthy of the
 ubiquitous Mr. Epps—of ham, beef, tongue, polony, portable
 soup, and sheep's trotter memory!

 Cold beef and ham, hot ribs of lamb, mock-turtle soup that's
 portable,

 Did blow, with stout, their jackets out, and made the folks
 comfortable!"

But this was perhaps one of the last days of the fair.

The pub is still open and is Grade II listed public house described as an early/mid-19th Century building and so was probably there in the closing years of the fair a few yards away.

According to the Wandle Industrial Museum, the Wandsworth Gas Company was established at a meeting at the the Spread Eagle Inn in Wandsworth in 1834 and was producing gas by the following year. By the 1920s it had grown into one of the largest London Gas companies, with coal being brought in barges to the canal basin close to the mouth of the Wandle. From 1906 colliers delivered coal to it on the Thames and the company produced some of the cheapest gas in London – making it particularly popular with balloonists.

At nationalisation in 1949 the company supplied an area of 160 square miles and had a fleet of six upriver colliers bringing over half a million tons of coal a year. Gas production ceased in 1970, but the gas holder continued in use for storage for many years.

*Fairfield Court, Flats, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-55*

Estate agents variously describe this building as being built between 1930 and 1949 or 1967 to 1975, but whatever its date of completion it was built in a 1930s Streamline Moderne style as my picture shows. Its a style which has attracted a large degree of architectural snobbery over the years, including in the great Pevsner Buildings of England series. I suspect it probably dates from the post-war rebuilding of Wandsworth, but would welcome correction.

*Wandsworth Town Hall, Fairfield St, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-42*

By contrast, the to my mind rather pedestrian Wandworth Town Hall is both Grade II listed and described in detail in the listing and on other web sites. I think the architectural details are of far more interest than the overall building, built in 1935-7 to the designs of Edward A Hunt. I turned away to the east and didn’t then photograph the south side of the building on Wandsworth High Street, perhaps the buildings more interesting aspect with a fine “bas relief frieze depicting events in Wandsworth’s history by David Evans and John Linehan.”

*P G Marshall & Sons, Tonsley Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-45*

One of the main Tonsley streets, this had a particular interest for me, as although there are many Peter Marshalls, some rather more famous than me, this was possibly the first time I had been greeted by my initials when walking the streets of London. So far as I am aware this P G Marshall was no relative. But the business ‘Purpose Made Joinery‘ also had some resonance – among his many trades, before my father became self-employed he had worked as a joiner around 1920 when motor vehicle bodies were still often made of wood.

Of course the coincidence of initials was not the only reason I stopped to take this picture. The railings with their spears beside the steps and the jagged edge above the side gate also appealed.

*Gate, Geraldine Rd, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-24*

I crossed East Hill and went down Geraldine Road admiring the brickwork and decoration of the house on the corner (my photo not digitised) which I think was then home to the probation service. I think this wrought iron gate was on the detached house on the corner of Eglantine Road which now has a rather different but still attractive fence and gate and the veranda with slim iron columns.

Houses, Geraldine Rd, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-25 — *Houses, Trees, Rosehill Road, Geraldine Rd, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-25*

On the corner of Geraldine Road and Rosehill Road I found this row of harshly pollarded trees stretching down the road with the tall thin Greek Revival tower of Robert Smirke’s Grade II* listed St Anne’s Church, Wandsworth in the distance down Rosehill Road.

My next post about this walk will begin with two more pictures of this church.

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Mont Nod and Old York Road – Wandsworth 1990

My walk on Sunday 4th March 1990 had begun at Clapham Junction in Battersea and I had ended my first post, St John’s Road & East Hill, Battersea – 1990 next to Trinity Road in Wandsworth.

Huguenot Burial Ground, Mount Nod Cemetery, East Hill, Wandsworth,, 1990, 90-2j-46 — *Huguenot Burial Ground, Mount Nod Cemetery, East Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-2j-46*

From 1562 to 1598 France was at civil war between Catholics, supported by the Catholic League including the Pope and Spain, and Protestants – the Huguenots – whose backers included Protestant England under Elizabeth I. Although Henry IV had become King of France in 1589 after the death of his ninth cousin once removed, Henry III, he was not recognised across the whole country.

Henry IV had been born and baptised a Catholic but brought up a Huguenot, and was the first (and only) Protestant King of France, but under pressure and to be recognised in Paris and elsewhere he converted to Catholicism in 1593, though whether he actually said “Paris is worth a Mass” is thought highly doubtful.

One of his first actions as king was the Edict of Nantes which granted the Huguenots – Calvinist protestants – the right to practise their religion while maintaining Catholicism as the established religion of the country. The Catholic authorities were never happy with the edict and Henry survived several assassination attempt before one succeeded in 1610.

*Huguenot Burial Ground, Mount Nod Cemetery, East Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-2j-33*

The Edict gave Huguenots religious toleration in certain towns and cities in France and allowed them to play a part in civil society, including holding public office, running their own schools, organising militia, carry out some trades and professions and to travel freely in France – and to avoid the Inquisition when travelling abroad.

Over the years the various freedoms granted by the Edict were lessened and in 1685, Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV, renounced the Edict and declared Protestantism illegal in all of France. Ministers were given two weeks to leave the country, while others were prohibited from leaving, though as many as 400,000 did, many coming to England.

Although Spitalfields is well-known for its Huguenot population, others settled elsewhere in London becoming around 5% of the area’s population. And Wandsworth, then a small village on the outskirts attracted some, probably because there were already some French speakers there, running various small industries on the River Wandle as well as market gardens. They became involved in textile mills and as hat and dressmakers, with Wandsowth becoming famous for hat making.

*Huguenot Burial Ground, Mount Nod Cemetery, East Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-2j-34*

There was religious persecution in England too, although the established church had broken from Rome, but protestants suffered as well as catholics. But it seems that in Wandsworth, French speakers were allowed to set up their own chapel since none of the English would understand their language. A plaque in Chapel Yard suggests that Flemish and French Protestants had set up a house of prayer there as early as 1573, when such chapels were clearly illegal.

The Huguenot Burial Site – also known as Mount Nod Cemetery – between East Hill and Huguenot Place was in use by 1687 and burials continued until 1854. In 1911 a memorial was erected – seen in two of my pictures, remembeing the contribution made by Huguenots to the “prosperity of the town of their adoption.”

The cemetery has recently been given local historic park and garden status has apparently been refurbished, though I’ve not visited it for some years, though I think may do so later this year.

*Book House, 45, East Hill, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-2j-23*

This Italianate locally listed building adjioinig the Huguenot Burial Ground was built in 1888 as County House for the Wandsworth District Board of Works. After the Nation Book League moved into it in 1985 it became Book House, and was also home to the Publishing Training Centre. More recently it has been converted into flats.

*Houses, Fullerton Rd, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-2j-24*

I left East Hill and walked up Alma Road; this area was developed between 1865 and 1895, but the north end of the street dates from soon after the Battle of Alma and appears on Stanford’s 1862 map. Alma was the first major battle of the Crimean War, when the British and the French defeated the Russians close to the mouth of the Alma, a small river which flows into the Black Sea not far from Sevastopol. The war dragged on until February 1856.

Fullerton Road crosses Alma Road and I walked a few yards down it to take this picture of a covered motorbike or scooter in front of Rose Cottage, Lansdown House and Gordon House.

*Shops, Old York Rd, Ferrier St, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-64*

Alma Road joins Old York Road opposite Wandsworth Town station and a few yards down to the left Ferrier Street leads off west, with a view of the Wandwworth gasholder. The superstructure of this was demolished I think over 10 years ago, but its base remains, visible from the railway.

Old York Road still exists, although the shops have shifted significantly upmarket and I’ve been to exhibition openings there, and the area around to the north and west is bristling with new towers of flats.

*Shops, Old York Rd, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-63*

No trace remains of the HOVIS sign on this house on the corner with Edgel Street and Lawrence’s Shoe Repairs are long gone.

*The Alma Tavern, Old York Rd, Alma Rd, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-65*

I went into Wandsworth Town Station and climbed the stairs to the platform to lean over and photograph the Alma Tavern. This was built in 1866 although there appears to be a pub here on the 1862 map. It was acquired by Young’s brewery – nearby in the centre of Wandsworth on the River Wandle – in 1888. Still operated by them it now has a hotel extension on the site of the former 1880s Victorian factory behind the pub in Alma Road, since 1983 occupied by Winstanley Metal Fabrications.

*Old York Rd, Ferrier St, Wandsworth Town, Wandsworth, 1990, 90-3a-66*

Further along the platform I took this view looking along Old York Road. This area along to what is now Swandon Way used to be Fairfield, the site of Wandsworth Fair, discontinued in the 19th century. York Road was once called Pickpocket Lane, then Slough Lane and only relatively recently becoming Old York Road. Much of the area was designated a conservation area in 2019.

My next post on this walk shortly.

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Factories, Flats, Wesley & The Kinks – 1990

Factories, Flats, Wesley & The Kinks: More from my walk on Sunday February 25th 1990 which began with Around Finsbury Park – 1990. The previous post was More Kentish Town – 1990.

*Flats, Elsfield, Highgate Rd, Kentish Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-61*

When the London Borough of Camden was formed in 1965 its architects department was set up headed by Sydney Cook and included many of the leading architects of the day, working for a council that was determined to build better homes for those living in the borough. Over the next 15 or so years they produced a huge number of well-designed and architecturally significant buildings until government cuts brought an end to what has been described as “their golden age of social housing.”

As well as large estates such as Neave Brown’s Alexandra Road, there were also a number of smaller sites such as Elsfield, designed by Bill Forest and built in 1966-70. Most of Camden’s schemes were built “in-house” which had the advantage of better quality work than many private contractors but sometimes led to lengthy delays and cost overruns.

*Flats, Elsfield, Highgate Rd, Kentish Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-36*

Later in the day I walked back past these flats and made another picture which shows the whole frontage on Highgate Road with its stepped back profile and prominent painted railings. The wall in front gives ground-floor residents privacy.

*Linton House, Carkers Lane, Highgate Rd, Kentish Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-62*

Once Carkers Lane was just “a footpath across fields and watercress beds and a farm belonging to Mr Corker“. Much of those fields became tracks and engine sheds for the Midland Railway, leaving just a short section of the path to become Carkers Lane.

In 1881 Thomas William Read and John Walter Read bought land here and began bottling spirits and beer; by 1906 they were “the largest buyer and bottler of Bass Ale in the world.” The ‘Dog’s Head Bottling’ adopted its famous Bull Dog trademark as its Company Logo. All this bottled beer was for export, mainly to “Australia, New Zealand, France, the West Indies and South Africa.” The company amalgamated with Kings Cross brewers Robert Porter in 1938 as Export Bottlers Ltd.

The building at the left of my picture on the corner of Highgate Road, then called Linton House (with parking for Norman Linton Only) was built around 1900 as a factory for furniture makers Maple & Co, suppliers of furniture to the royal family, palaces and expensive hotels worldwide as well as selling to the wealthy public through their Tottenham Court Road shop and in Paris and elsewhere. After they moved it it became home to a number of smaller companies, mainly as offices. Developers The Linton Group acquired it and converted it into 50 luxury flats and seven penthouses they lanched on the market in 2016 as Maple House.

Wallpaper manufacturer Shand Kydd moved to the site in 1906 to mass produce their wallpapers and around 1920 Sanderson’s wallpaper joined them. Both had moved out by around 1960.

The estate also became home in 1973 to the International Oriental Carpet Centre, formed by Oriental rug dealers who had previously been in the Cutler Street warehouse complex owned by Port of London Authority but were given notice to quit when the PLA decided to sell this for redevelopment. The IOCC lease expired in 1994 and most of the dealers left.

Carkers Lane is now home to Highgate Studios, a huge largely office development and the Highgate Business Centre.

*Factory, Carkers Lane, Highgate Rd, Kentish Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-33*

Again as I walked back past Carkers Lane later in the day I made another picture

*Houses, Little Green St, Kentish Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-66*

Little Green Street is a short street between Highgate Road and College Lane which takes you back to the 1780s. The ten Georgian houses here were seen even in the 1890s as “old-fashioned cottages” by Charles Booth in his Life and Labour of the People in London. The street provided the background for The Kinks dressed as old-fashioned undertakers carrying a coffin in the 1966 official music video for Dead End Street, one of the earliest music videos.

The wooden post at left has gone and the cobbled area at its left is now a walled garden for the house on the corner of the street.

*Houses, Little Green St, Kentish Town, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-53*

These Grade II listed cottages were in something of a dead end street, leading only to College Lane, on the other side of which was the Staff Hotel for the London Midland and Scottish Railway until this was replaced by Camden Council’s Ingestre Road Estate, designed by John Green for Camden Architects’ Department and built in 1967–71, a small part of which you can see at the left edge of this picture.

*Tyre swing, Highgate Rd, Dartmouth Park, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-55*

At the end of Little Green Street I think I turned left and walked along under the railway bridge which also features in The Kinks video to Denyer House, a large 1930s London County Council block set back from Highgate Road. The tree is still there but the swing is long gone.

*Wesleyan Place, Gospel Oak, Camden, 1990, 90-2i-45*

Crossing Highgate Road I went down Wesleyan Place. This street was laid out in 1810 and was the site of a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in a converted farm building from Richard Mortimer’s farm here. The Methodists moved out in 1864 to a new chapel in Bassett Street.

This early/mid nineteenth century terrace of four houses was Grade II listed in 1974. The street leads to Mortimer Terrace.

I’ll write and post the final part of this walk shortly.

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Houses, a Club, Ghost Sign, Blouses and Baths – 1990

More from my walk on Sunday February 25th 1990 continuing from Around Finsbury Park – 1990.

*Houses, Prah Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1990, 90-2f-22*

A long terrace of three-storey houses on Prah Rd built in 1876-1878 – and there are others in a similar style on nearby Romilly Rd. There is a long and detailed section on Prah Road and its early occupants cited in an essay by John Bold and Charlotte Bradbeer; Booth’s investigators described these and neighbouring streets as having a higher class of occupant: ‘clerks, city men, some mechanics and a great many railwaymen of the better sort, head ticket collectors etc‘.

*Doorway, 1, Prah Rd, Finsbury Park, Islington, 1990, 90-2f-24*

The Finsbury Park Conservative Club opened at 1 Prah Road in 1886 but there was little to show its presence when I photographed its decorative entrance. Later it had a Carlsburg sign added above the doorway, still there though faded although the club closed in 2015. The building was sold in 2016 for over 1.65 million, but completion was delayed as the building was squatted. It is now residential.

*Shops, Berriman Rd, Seven Sisters Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2f-25*

I walked north towards Finsbury Park Station and then turned left down Seven Sisters Road towards Holloway, taking few photographs as I had walked this way before. FINSBURY PARK was then fairly clear at the top of the ‘ghost sign’ on the Berriman Road side of 158 Seven Sisters Road, but I cannot make out the rest of the wording, though the next line could be GENERAL.

*Fosby, Blouses, Works, Thane Villas, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2f-26*

Fosby Of London Ltd were at 3-5 Thane Villas, a few yards down the next turning south off Seven Sisters Road after Berriman Road. The company, established in 1977, made luxury high quality ladies blouses and shirts with “a feminine, elegant feel” which still sell on vintage clothing sites, but the building is now student accomodation.

*Fosby, Blouses, Works, Thane Villas, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2f-13*

A closer view shows some of the fine detailing on the Grade II listed building built in a Queen Anne style in 1909 as factory, offices and wholesale showroom for manufacturing pharmaceutical chemists Fletcher, Fletcher and Company Ltd. Grace’s Guide lists their specialities: ‘”Vibrona” the Ideal Tonic Wine, of which they are the proprietors; is largely prescribed by the medical profession as a Tonic Restorative. ” Bronamalt,” an Ideal Tonic Food for delicate Children and Invalids. Also proprietors of Fletchers’ Syrups of the Hydrobro mates and Fletchers’ Concentrated Liquors, all of proved value. Are the patentees of Fletchers’ Thermo-Hydrometer and Fletchers’ Autometric Stopper, also of Endolytic Tubes for Clinical Diagnosis.

Other products included Effico tonic, Flexaphyll deodorant tablets, Aperigran laxative granules and Rubelix cough syrup. They called the buildings Vibrona House and remaines there until the 1960s when it was bought by Vortex Jersey Ltd.

The building was only listed in 2007, and the listing text comments: “The building has been little altered and retains several features of note including panelling, a glazed partition, a fireplace and rare historic automatic door, an unusual feature in commercial buildings of the era. The difference between the manufacturing and commercial spaces is clearly marked by two staircases which are both of special interest: the utilitarian stone staircase with metal balusters providing access to the factory and the grand timber Jacobean staircase serving the offices and commercial areas.“

*Hornsey Rd Baths, Laundry, Hornsey Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2f-14*

At the next crossroads I turned north up Hornsey Road and photographed the Hornsey Road Baths – Grade II listed in 1994. Another Queen Anne style building, this was built in 1891-2, designed by architect Alfred Hessell Tiltman (1854-1910).

When opened it had two pools for men and one for women, but such was demand that the baths were enlarged in 1894 and a second women’s bath was added in 1900. The listing text concludes by mentioning the “remarkable neon Diving Lady on the South flank elevation, one of 12 such illuminated features placed on swimming pools and lidos in London in the 1930’s and now believed to be the only survivor.”

*Hornsey Rd Baths, Laundry, Hornsey Rd, Holloway, Islington, 1990, 90-2f-16*

The frontage of the baths has the text ‘PUBLIC BATHS AND WASH HOUSES’ incised across it. The wash houses or laundry were added in 1894 and had a large drying room; they became self-service in 1965. The baths were refurbished at a cost of £1.5 million in 1985 and as the board shows were still in use for swimming, warm baths and a sauna when I took these pictures. But lack of funds led to the closing of the baths and laundry the following year.

From 2002-9 the baths were redeveloped, retaining the listed entrance block on Hornsey Road and the chimney but providing 200 apartments, some at affordable rent and others for private sale, an office building for Islington Council and a Sure Start Centre for parents and children.