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Latymer, Cromwell, Britannia, Chapels, Shops & Bevan – 1990

Latymer, Cromwell, Britannia, Chapels, Shops & Bevan: The first post from my walk on Sunday 7th January was Stamford Brook, Ravenscourt Park and a Bull – 1990 and it ended on King Street Hammersmith where this post begins. As usual you can click on any of the pictures in these walk posts to go to a larger version in one of my Flickr albums.

*Latymer Upper School, King St, Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1d-36*

Like many other well-known schools Latymer School began with a bequest for the education of poor boys. Edward Latymer in 1624 left money to provide 8 poor boys with clothing and education to the age of 13. Later bequests added to the foundation and in 1811, Ann Wyatt left £500 to build a new school together with £100 for its maintenance. Schools were set up in both Edmonton and Fulham.

The Fulham school moved to Hammersmith in 1648 and since then has had various buildings in the area. This building, Latymer Upper School was opened in 1895 and taught boys up to the age of 16. Following the 1945 Education Act it became a Direct Grant Grammar School, taking both state and fee-paying pupils.

When I took my 11-plus I could have applied to go here, but my parents were worried both by the cost of uniforms etc they couldn’t afford and also the long journey times I would have had to make and sent me to a more local Grammar.

The Direct Grant scheme was abolished in 1976, with Latymer becoming a fee-paying “Public School“, though still retaining some means-tested grant assisted places. When I made this picture it was still a boy’s school, but girls were admitted into the sixth form in 1996 and beginning in 2004 the whole school slowly became co-educational.

*Trees, Flats, Cromwell Ave, Hammersmith, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1d-24*

Cromwell Avenue is a street off King Street to the south, and these flats cover its whole east side. I think the street runs along what was the west side of Hammersmith Brewery, set up in 1780 by Joseph Cromwell on Hammersmith Creek, then navigable as far as King Street. The brewery was later run by his brother James Cromwell but seems to have stopped brewing in the 1840s.

Hammersmith Creek was the mouth of Stamford Brook, a small stream running from Gunnersbury. As well as the brewery on its west bank it also had wharves on its east side and in the early 19th century still had a flourishing industry. It was filled in in the early 20th century and Stamford Brook now reaches the Thames in a culvert under Furnivall Gardens.

*Salvation Army, Dalling Rd, Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1d-12*

Formerly known as the Ebenezer Chapel and Albion Congregational Church, was said to have built in the 1780s when recently offered for sale, although Pevsner dates it to 1891-2 by F W Stocking.

The congregation of the Ebenezer Chapel moved to a church on this site from King St in 1855. The church closed in 1938 and became a Salvation Army chapel which has now recently closed.

*Britannia Builders, Studland St, Glenthorne Rd, Hammersmith, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1d-15*

The buildings are still here at 108-116 Glenthorne Rd but there is no trace of Britannia. During the corona virus pandemic they were used by the volunteer community aid network launched by Hammersmith & Fulham Council, H&F CAN to give support to residents. Before that the windows were full of fireplaces, wood-burning stoves and mirrors

*Gospel Hall, King St, Hammersmith, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1e-03*

The Gospel Hall of the Kelly Mission was at 170 King Street and the site has now been redeveloped. Until 1919 this was the site of the Cock and Magpie pub and the Gospel Hall was built soon after

Shelly's Shoes, Holcome St, King St, Hammersmith, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1e-61 — *Shelly’s Shoes, Holcome St, King St, Hammersmith, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1e-61*

These buildings are still there at 157-163 King Street though Maplin, Shelly’s Shores and Pizza Inn have all been replaced by different businesses. Even the more modern building beyond has survived.

I couldn’t make out much of the remains of an advertisement on the Holcome Street wall though it seems to have a very large ‘UNN’ in it. No traces of it remain but there are now some wall bracing plates on the wall.

*Aspen Gardens, Hammersmith, Hammersmith & Fulham, 1990, 90-1e-63*

These blocks of flats in Aspen Gardens have a 1930s look to them but were built shortly after the end of the war clearing a large slum area and were opened in 1948 by Aneurin Bevan.

Best known for the NHS, Bevan was also responsible for housing and advocated for a national housing scheme to ensure everyone had decent and affordable homes. He wanted social housing for all, creating “create new homes and communities with a place for all sections of society” like that in English and Welsh villages “where the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street.”

Despite incredible post-was shortages of materials and skilled labour, in 1948 there were 227,600 new homes built.

More from my walk here on >Re:PHOTO later.

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Garford Street Limehouse – 1990

Garford Street Limehouse: My walk in Limehouse on Sunday 6th January 1990 continued. The previous post from this walk is Around Emmett Street, Limehouse 1990. As usual you can click on the images here to view larger versions on my Flickr pages.

*Garford St, Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, 1990, 90-1c-65*

Garford Street is variously described as in Limehouse, Westferry and Poplar, although estate agents seem to prefer Canary Wharf, which is certainly isn’t, though fairly close by. Back in 1990 I think most of us thought it was Limehouse.

The 1994 LCC Survey of London deals with it in a chapter Limehouse Hole: The inland area. This tells us that a John Garford in the early 19th century had a wharf on the Thames at its western end on Emmett Street. Since the building of the Limehouse Link tunnel and the new route of Westferry Road for the Canary Wharf redevelopment it now starts around 200 yards to the east on Westferry Road. Its other end is still at the West India Dock Road.

I think the junction here is a part of the lost area on the north side of Garford Street. The chimney in the background is a remnant of the Lion Works, established here in “1896-7 by James Walker & Company, steam packing makers,” later Lion Packings Ltd who made “Patent metallic packing” here until around 1926. “The site was cleared for public housing in 1938–9” but as you can see the chimney survived until 1990.

*Garford St, Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, 1990, 90-1c-51*

Another view just a few yards from the previous image shows some large cable drums from AEI Gravesend. A notice tells those waiting for MOT tests at the Austin Rover garage where to queue.

*Garford St, Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, 1990, 90-1c-53*

This derelict warehouse building still has the remains of a hoist to the first floor entrance above its main door. There is now new housing on this site just to the west of the DLR railway bridge on the north side of the street.

*Constables Cottages, Garford St, Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, 1990, 90-1c-54*

These early 19th century houses on the south side of Garford St are Grade II listed.

Greig House, Garford St, Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, 1990, 90-1c-56

Greig House, Garford St, Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, 1990,
Built 1902-3 as accommodation for officers from Scandinavian ships docked in London it was taken over in 1930 as a Salvation Army hostel, and later used to house male alcoholics and more recently as a residential detoxification centre for men and women with drug or alcohol problems. Grade II listed along with the cottages on Garford St.

Greig House, Garford St, Limehouse, Tower Hamlets, 1990, 90-1c-41

A second view of Greig House which shows some of the buildings of the West India Dock on Hertsmere Road in the background as well as the cranes building parts of Canary Wharf around Cabot Square. You can read much more about this and the associated buildings on the Lost Hospitals of London site.

From here I walked across the West India Dock Road in Poplar where my next post on this walk will begin.

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Salvation, Statuettes, a Sexy Model, Spendel & More – 1989

Salvation, Statuettes, a Sexy Model, Spendel & More: Continuing my walk on Sunday 5th November 1989 from Green Lanes where the previous post, Stroud Green to Grand Parade had ended I walked some way down West Green Road before taking my next picture.

*Salvation Army, 2, Terront Rd, West Green, Haringey, 1989 89-11d-16*

The Salvation Army building is still there on Terront Road though I think no longer in use by them. I was clearly attracted both by this building and by the car on a trailer to its left, rather dramatically marked with large Xs.

I wondered if this car might be connected with the clearance of the Harringay stadium site, about a kilometre away. Stock car racing and Banger racing were among the events held at Harringay Stadium from the 1950s on. The stadium had opened as Britain’s third greyhound racing stadium in 1927, adding speedway the following year. The stadium finally closed in 1987 and was acquired by Haringey council and some years later demolished for housing and a Sainsbury’s superstore.

It was only the 5th November so the Salvation Army were perhaps getting in rather early with advertising a Christmas Bazaar to be held on 18th Novemeber.

*Shop window, West Green Rd, West Green, Haringey, 1989 89-11c-62*

And perhaps this pair of Greek statuettes were the ideal Christmas Gift for someone, though I think it would have to be someone you didn’t like. But as you can tell from the price label they were quite small, and at £2.49 definitely a gift.

I decided not to make a great effort to correct the overall flare which renders their upper regions rather diffuse when making this digital copy from the original negative.

*Shop window, Green Lanes, Haringey, 1989 89-11c-64*

My walk was coming to an end and I walked back towards Turnpike Lane station finding another shop window which caught my interest on Green Lanes. There was something unusually real about this heavily made-up mannequin, wig, pose, and clothing, a sexual energy whose spell was only really broken by the clearly visible joint on her lower left arm and a rather porcelain quality to the highlights. I think this was probably in the window of a shop selling wedding dresses.

*Spendel, Hairdresser, Langham Rd, Turnpike Lane, Haringey 1989 89-11c-66*

I took a number of pictures of this shopfront, which was I think part of the extensive station and bus station development. Most were in colour apart from this and a slightly tighter cropped black and white image. At least one of the colour images – also on Flickr – shows the the entire shopfront dominated at the top by the large word ‘HAIRDRESSER‘. In very small type at the top of the window it states ‘GENTS SALOON’ and scattered on the surface at the base of the windows in front of the shutters are boxes containing tubes of related products including Ingram shaving cream.

The window at left of the entrance contains two rather unhealthy looking pot plans and behind them is a poster for the pantomime Aladdin starring Michael Barrymore and Frank Bruno.

My walk on 5th November ended at Turnpike Lane, where I caught the Piccadilly Line to make my way towards home. But a week later I was back in the same area, returning first to Walthamstow – an easy journey on the Victoria Line before returning to Turnpike Road. I think I had gone back to Walthamstow to retake some colour images, hoping to find better light.

Cemetery, Queen's Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11c-52 — *Cemetery, Queen’s Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11c-52*

I’d photographed a large angel on my previous walk in the cemetery and this time I took a picture of a rather smaller one, but my main interest was in the shadows cast on a couple of the stones, one of my head and shoulders as I made the picture along with the fence and to the right a clear cross on a rather less clear fence shadow. I think I was probably standing outside the cemetery fence looking in.

Queen's Rd, Lansdowne Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11c-53 — *Shandar, Queen’s Rd, Lansdowne Rd, Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, 1989 89-11c-53*

The Shandar Take Away Restaurant at 65 on the corner of Queen’s Road and Lansdowne Road had a colourful mural along its Lansdowne Road side, and most of the pictures I took of it were in colour, but I stood a little further away on Queen’s Road to make this picture including a van with an open rear door parked on the pavement in front of a shop on the opposite corner.

Shandar is a name used by a number of Indian restaurants, a Hindi word implying excellence or high quality, which could be translated as ‘Splendid’ or ‘Grand’.

More from my walk on 12th November in a later post.

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Stockwell – Chapel, Church, Jazz & Housing

Stockwell – Chapel, Church, Jazz & Housing: I thought I had completed the pictures from my walk on 4th June 1989, but find there is a chunk I had left out. As those who have followed my various walks know I often wandered in circles. I think these pictures were taken following those in the post More Stockwell Green & Mary Seacole.

*Khatme Nubuwwat Centre, 35 Stockwell Green, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-46*

The Khatme Nubuwwat Centre was previously known as Aalami Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nubuwwat and is also known as Stockwell Green Mosque. It was the subject of an investigation by the Charity Commission in 2016 over its links with Pakistani groups advocating the killing of Ahmadi Muslims. Its name means that Muhammad is the last of the prophets, while Ahmadis are a minority Muslim sect who believe the Prophet Mohammad is not the last and final messenger.

*Khatme Nubuwwat Centre, 35 Stockwell Green, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-31*

Another picture of Stockwell Green Mosque with the number 35 and its name in 1989, Aalami Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nubuwwat, at the side of the door.

Confusingly this building still appears to be Grade II listed as Stockwell Green United Reformed Church, although it was sold to the mosque in 1988, when that church moved to smaller premises. It also gives the address as Union Mews. The listing text says it is a classical chapel dating from around 1830. It was known as Stockwell New Chapel and was where William Booth and Catherine Mumford the founders of The Salvation Army were married on 17th June 1855.

I’m surprised that when it was listed in 1981 a more exact date could not be given as most chapels have foundation stones with names and dates. It was built in 1798, but was extended and given this facade by architect Hames Wilson in 1850.

St Andrew's, Church, CofE, Landor Rd, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-33 — *St Andrew’s, Church, CofE, Landor Rd, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-33*

I went back to Landor Road and made another picture of the Anglican St Andrew’s Church seen from the corner of Stockwell Green, showing the oversize circular window at its east end, doubtless part of H E Roe’s Romanesque rebuilding in 1867.

The house at the left, 22 Stockwell Green is early 19th century and Grade II listed.

*Live Music, Stockwell Green, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-34*

I think this may have been an entrance to the Plough pub, on the corner of Stockwell Green and with the address 90 Stockwell Road, though nothing there resembles this now.

The Plough had been on this site since brewery records began in 1666, but was rebuilt in the 1930s as a Truman pub designed by A E Sewell. It was a well-known jazz venue in the 1960s and 70s with performances by some of Britain’s best jazz musicians and some live recordings were made in the bar.

By the 1990s the audience for live jazz had declined and two letters of its name had fallen from the sign and it was relaunched as a garish bar, the Plug. But this was unsuccessful and closed in 2001. The upper floors are now residential but the ground floor seems to still be empty 22 years later.

King George's House, 40 Stockwell Rd, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-35 — *King George’s House, 40 Stockwell Rd, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-35*

Built as Ingram House, architect Arthur T Bolton, it opened in 1905 as a residential club for young men and later was taken over the the YWCA for young ladies. In 1937 it became King George’s House, a home for working boys aged 14-18 run by the John Benn Boys’ Hostel Association. It is now run by Evolve Housing as “an 87 bed service for single homeless young people from 16 years of age with a range of support needs.“

The rather tall gates were firmly locked when I made this picture from the street.

*Cassell House, Stockwell Gardens Estate, Stockwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-6b-21*

Cassell House is in Stockwell Gardens West and has flat numbers 1-81. The estate was built by the London County Council from around 1930 on. Cassell House is a large complex with this curved block behind a group of buildings including the Swan pub on the corner of Clapham Road and Stockwell Road more or less opposite the Stockwell Underground Station.

Stockwell’s most famous gardens, the botanical gardens of John Tradescant lay a little to the north.

A few more of the ‘missing’ pictures in a later post.

Houses, Station, General Booth and more Houses

My account of this walk from 5th February 1989 began in Camberwell with the previous post, A Pub, Ghost Sign, Shops And The Sally Ann.

*House, Windsor Walk, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-51*

I ended my previous post with pictures of William Booth College and a statue of Catherine Booth. Before-crossing the railway I had gone down Windsor Walk, and the overall picture of the college was taken from there across the cutting containing the lines and platforms. Even from there the top of the tower was only just in frame, and unfortunately I cropped it slightly when I made the scan. I think more recent building at Denmark Hill station now partly obscures the view.

This impressive house at 16 Windsor Walk is a part of local development in the 1860s-80s, largely a speculative development built as private houses but many pressed into service in post-war years as nurses homes and medical centres for the nearby Maudsley and Kings College Hospital. Although this house looks in good condition, it deteriorated rapidly and was boarded up for years before extensive refurbishment in 2014-6. From the outside it again looks much as it did in 1989.

*House, Windsor Walk, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-53*

These houses at 17-18 Windsor Walk were also derelict a few years ago and have also been restored along with the next two properties on the street.

*Phoenix Firkin, Denmark Hill Station, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-55*

Denmark Hill Station and its offices were Grade II listed only in 1998. The buildings date from 1864-66 and were gutted by fire in 1980. By 1989 the station was home to the Phoenix Firkin pub, named as it had arisen from the ashes. It remains in business, though now called simply The Phoenix. Denmark Hill, a busy station, is entered through the southern part of the building at right, from which several people are emerging in my picture.

*William Booth statue, William Booth College, Salvation Army, Champion Park, Denmark Hill, Southwark, 1989. 89-2a-41*

The station buildings with their pub are on a bridge over the railway lines, here in a cutting, and this leads to Champion Park with its Salvation Army College. Here I photographed both the statue of Catherine Booth in the previous post and this one of her husband and co-founder of the Army, William Booth, born April 10th 1829. Promoted to glory August 20th 1912. Sculpture by George Wade, 1929.

Their two statues are situated symmetrically on the lawn in front of the college, close to the road.

*Canning Cross, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-43*

Champion Park leads to Grove Lane, and a few yards down from the corner is a narrow turning, Canning Cross, next to the George Canning pub, which leads to Stories Mews, and as a footpath only to Camberwell Grove. I took this picture from Canning Cross looking roughly north up Stories Mews, and although there has been considerable rebuilding in the area I think this view remains much the same.

Canning, a prominent Tory politician was until recently the British Prime Minister to have been in office for the shortest time, being Prime Minister for only 119 days in April to August 1827. But his time in office was cut short by his death and not as Liz Truss’s by disgrace. Canning was also the last PM to have fought a duel after he, then Foreign Secretary was challenged by the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Fought with pistols on Putney Heath, Canning’s shot went extremely wide of the mark, but the war minister was a rather better shot and Canning was wounded in the leg.

*House, Champion Hill, East Dulwich, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-46*

I walked on down Grove Lane to Champion Hill, turning down here and going past a two houses in what seemed to me an Arts and Crafts style dating from 1907, as the lozenge on the central chimney records. Champion Hill is an odd street with several branches and a central cross-roads where all four signs point to Champion Hill. Fortunately I had a map and knew to turn right to take me towards Denmark Hill and Ruskin Park, where the next post on this walk will continue.

A Pub, Ghost Sign, Shops And The Sally Ann

My next opportunity for a walk in South London was on Sunday 5th February 1989 a week after my previous walk. I returned to Camberwell, getting off the bus from Vauxhall on Peckham Road at Camberwell Green and walked down Grove Lane.

*The Grove House Tavern, Mary Boast Walk, Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1i-12*

At the end of an alley leading to Camberwell Grove I found the Grove House Tavern, then a Taylor Walker pub. I liked the way its chimney seemed to complement the spire of St Giles’s Church on the other side of my frame and the rather elegant pair of houses facing the end of Mary Boast walk at 53 and 55 Camberwell Grove, both Grade II listed along with many other houses on that street.

Mary Joyce Boast (1921-2010) was a local history librarian, and became a great expert on the history of Southwark. She was the borough’s first Local Studies Librarian, but had retired a few years before I first visited the John Harvard Library on Borough High St. I think this passage was unnamed when I took this picture and only got a name after her death in 2010.

The fence at left stops the balls for a tennis club. There was a pub on this corner in 1826, though the building in my picture dates from around a century later and has a rather unusual Mansard roof. For a while it became the Grand Union, but was renamed Grove House in 2017 and was taken over by new management in 2021.

*Gone Fishing, Shop Door, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, Lambeth, 1989 89-1i-15*

The curved building reflected in the glass here is the former Odeon Cinema on the corner of Coldharbour Lane. I had walked back up Grove Lane and then along Daneville Road to here. The handwritten sign ‘CLOSED EARLY – Gone Fishing’ seemed to me to reflect a very healthy attitude to life.

*Shop, Ghost Sign, Daneville Rd, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-1i-16*

Looking back up Daneville Rd from the corner with Denmark Hill I photographed the faded wall sign for DAREN, the Best Brown Bread. Only faint traces of this ‘ghost sign’ now remain. The ‘lower ‘Great Expectations’ section was painted over in white and then around 2010 with a colourful graffiti mural, perhaps related to the GX Gallery to its right down Daneville Road. Later this too was painted over, and became ‘Muhammad Ali’ after his death in 2016, only to be over-painted again more recently.

‘Daren The Best Brown Bread’ was a non-wholemeal brown loaf baked from flour ground at the Daren Mill at Dartford in Kent, at the time it was painted as big a brand as Hovis. The mill went bankrupt in the 1930s and the brand merged with Hovis. Personally I think their loaves are rather like eating sawdust and stick to proper wholemeal, fortunately home-made.

*Former Odeon cinema, Denmark Hill, Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell, Lambeth, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-01*

Looking across Denmark Hill with Coldharbour Lane and Valmar Ave visible at right. The Odeon here was the largest Odeon built in London and opened in 1939, seating almost 2,500. It had entrances on both Denmark Hill and Coldharbour Lane, and had shops on the corner here. It closed in 1975 and was empty until taken over briefly in 1981 by Dickie Dirt selling cut-price jeans and other clothing. But they went bust and the former cinema was empty for another ten years until demolished in 1993, when a block of flats for homeless young people was built on the site.

Tony's Corner Shop, 108a Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-2a-61 — *Tony’s Corner Shop, 108a Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Lambeth, 1989 89-2a-61*

Tony’s is still there on the corner of an alley off Denmark Hill, though the former cinema which housed the Camberwell branch of Dickie Dirts which can be glimpsed at top right has been replaced by a block of flats. The alley, Coldharbour Place, leads through to Coldharbour Lane. There are no longer windows on the side of the shop which is covered other and now painted with graffiti.

*House, Grove Lane, Camberwell, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-63*

I think I may have been attracted by the name to walk down Love Lane, though I took no pictures on it. On Grove Lane I photographed Cliftonville at No 83, a Grade II listed early 19th century villa with rather unusual ogge or ogive curves on the door and windows.

*William Booth College, Salvation Army, Champion Park, Denmark Hill, Southwark, 1989 89-2a-66*

I walked down Grove Lane and turned right into Champion Park to admire the Salvation Army’s William Booth College. Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the college opened in 1929 and is a memorial to William Booth who died in 1912. It was completed in 1932 and has a similar monumental impressiveness to Scott’s power stations at Battersea and Bankside (now Tate Modern.)

The simplicity of this building was not by design but because of budget cuts which fortunately meant that originally planned Gothic stone detailing could not be afforded. This resulted in the Grade II listed building becoming a spiritual power station. It has recently been renovated and is still in use by the Salvation Army.

*Catherine Booth statue, William Booth College, Salvation Army, Champion Park, Denmark Hill, Southwark, 1989. 89-2a-41*

Mrs Catherine Booth was the wife of William Booth and co-founder with him of the Salvation Army. Known as ‘The Army Mother’ she died – or rather was ‘Promoted to glory October 4th 1890’. This sculpture by George Wade was erected in front of the new college in 1929.

This picture shows more of that Gothic stonework details that were meant to be rather more widely applied.

This walk will continue in further posts.

West Lane & Spa Road Bermondsey 1988

My previous post on this walk was Thames, Rotherhithe & Wapping 1988 and ended next to the isolated former offices of Braithwaite & Dean, close to the Angel pub on the bank of the Thames.

Servewell Cafe, West Lane,Bermondsey, 1988 88-10l-34-Edit_2400 — *Servewell Cafe, West Lane,Bermondsey, 1988 88-10l-34*

I walked a short distance west by the river, photographing some recent flats on Bermondsey Wall East and the riverside warehouse at Corbett’s wharf, since discretely refurbished (not digitised) before turning down West Lane where there was more new housing and finding The Evangelical Church of the Deaf which I think was where there is now a new block of flats on Paradise Street.(also not digitised.)

The Servewell Cafe was then at number 14, and is now a few doors down in larger premises, its former site now an Indian Takeaway. The barbers on the corner remains a Gents Hairdresser, but the wool shop is now ‘glue bermondsey’ creative space.

Bermondsey & Rotherhithe, War Memorial, West Lane, Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-35-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey & Rotherhithe, War Memorial, West Lane, Jamaica Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-35*

The Bermondsey & Rotherhithe War Memorial is immediately in front of the shops on West Lane, close to its junction with Jamaica Road on a wide area of pavement. It was erected here replacing a temporary memorial in 1921 “to the honoured memory of the men of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe who fell in the great war 1914 – 1918” and later inscriptions were added for the Second World War, including “In remembrance of all those civilians and members of the civil defence and fire brigade services who lost their lives in this community 1939 – 1945.” The coat of arms is that of the former Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey with its motto ‘Prosunt Gentibus Artes‘ (arts profit the people). Among the sponsors of the memorial was the then owner of Peak Freans, Arthur Carr.

Scott Lidgett Crescent, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-36-Edit_2400 — *Scott Lidgett Crescent, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-36*

John Scott Lidgett (1854-1953) was a Methodist minister, educationalist and politician who was at various times the first President of the Methodist Conference, vice-chancellor of the University of London. He played an important role in the development of women’s colleges and university support for teach training. He became an alderman of the London County Council and led the Progressive Party on the LCC from 1918-28.

In 1891 he established the Bermondsey Settlement, the only Methodist settlement, and became its warden. Among those that this attracted to devote themselves to come and live and work in the community were Ada and Alfred Salter. The settlement closed in 1969.

These solidly built houses were a part of the continuing redevelopment of the area which had been begun by Bermondsey Council – with the Salters as councillors and later Mayor and MP respectively, beginning at Wilson Grove in 1927. In the ten years after the war, the council and the LCC built 9,600 homes.

Salvation Army, Hostel, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-11-Edit_2400 — *Salvation Army, Hostel, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-11*

The Salvation Army Social Services Hostel for Men on Spa Road was much needed in one of the country’s most deprived areas when this ‘elevator’, designed to both house men and provide some paid work to prepare them for work outside, opened in 1899. It was a waste paper depot and the men were employed in sorting the waste – recycling is nothing new.

Back in my childhood, before going to church my father would sort all the waste paper which had found its way into our house, flattening the sheets, piling them on top of each other before rolling them up and tying the roll with string, to be put out next to the dustbin for the council to collect.

The Spa Road hostel also housed some Belgian refugees in the First World War and Italian prisoners of war at the end of WW2. A laundry was added in the 1920s. By the time I photographed it the laundry had closed but the centre also offered other work, including basket-weaving, carpentry, candle-making, and picture-framing. It finally closed in 2001 and was demolished in 2003. The site is now occupied by a large block of flats.

Bermondsey Municipal Offices, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-14-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey Municipal Offices, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-14*

Bermondsey Town Hall was only Grade II listed 10 years after I made this picture. It was built as an extension to the existing Victorian Bermondsey Town Hall in 1928-1930, architect Henry Tansley indulging in a deliberate recreation of the 19th century Greek Revival. I’ve not digitised the picture I took of its grand frontage, but only this image showing a detail of the building, including some of its listed railings.

Planning permission was granted in 2012 for the conversion of the building into 41 homes and is now rather confusingly called Old Town Hall Apartments.

BermondseyCentral Library, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-15-Edit_2400 — *Bermondsey Central Library, Spa Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10l-15*

Similarly I’ve yet to digitise the more overall image of the library which is in the background to this picture. The gate pier and railings are all that remains from another municipal building, the old Bermondsey Town Hall which was heavily damaged by wartime bombing and demolished in the 1960. The gate was kept when a new ‘One Stop Shop’ replaced the ruins, and it was retained when this was in turn demolished and replaced by ‘The Exchange’ around 2013. Its ground floor is now a Sainsbury’s Local.

Flats, Fort Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-65-Edit_2400 — *Flats, Fort Rd, Bermondsey, Southwark, 1988 88-10m-65*

I wanders a little around the area by Spa Gardens making an image of new housing in Hazel Way and old in Balaclava Rd and then this which I think is Dartford House in Fort Road, part of the Longfield Estate.

To be continued…

Jews, a Bishop and the Sally Army

Jews, a Bishop and the Sally Army: Continuing my walk in October 1988 around Clapton – the previous pos was Hats, Bags, Passports, Mansions, Biocrin & Hollywood.

Jewish Free School, Lea Bridge Road, Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-41-Edit_2400 — *Jewish Free School, Lea Bridge Road, Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-41*

The Jewish presence in Hackney dates back to the late 17th century and grew greatly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and by the 1950s it was said to have the largest and densest Jewish population in the country. Many were supporters of the Labour party and local councillors and leaders, and among former Jewish Free School pupils is Labour life peer Maurice Glasman, Baron Glasman. Other well-known Jewish people who grew up in Clapton include Helen Shapiro, Harold Pinter, Lord Levy and Lord Sugar. Since the 1970s the area has been home to a fast growing ultra orthodox community.

The Clapton Jewish Day School was established next to the synagogue in Lea Bridge Road in 1956, though these splendid gates may be older. The school moved to Cazenove Road in 1973 as the voluntary aided Simon Marks Jewish Primary School and is the only remaining mixed Jewish school in inner London.

Clapton Federation Synagogue, Lea Bridge Road, Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-43-Edit_2400 — *Clapton Federation Synagogue, Lea Bridge Road, Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-43*

Clapton Federation Synagogue or Sha’are Shomayim (Gates of Heaven) was founded in 1919 by Elias Ephraim Frumkin (1880-1958) whose family were well-known East End wine merchants Frumkin & Co. In 1932 the synagogue moved into this fine Art Deco new building by architect Marcus Kenneth Glass with a polychrome facade and mosaics at 47 Lea Bridge Rd. In 2005 the congregation moved out to hold its services in the Springfield Synagogue on Upper Clapton Road. Attempts to have the building listed unfortunately failed and it was demolished in 2006, replaced by a rather ugly large block of flats.

The Frumkin family had settled in Whitechapel around 1893, and opened a shop the following year selling Kosher wines on the corner of Commercial Road and Cannon Street Road. Elias, the son of the founder developed the Cherry Brandy for which the company became famous. The firm which supplied wine for many weddings and Bar Mitzvahs later opened branches in Edgware and the West End but finally closed in 1997.

Bishop Wood's Almshouses, Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-44-Edit_2400 — *Bishop Wood’s Almshouses, Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-44*

This is said to be Hackney’s oldest building. These Grade II listed almshouses facing Clapton Pond were opened in 1665 by Dr Thomas Wood, who had been born in Hackney, to provide homes for 10 poor elderly widows over the age of 60 years. In 1671 Wood was made Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, but he preferred to stay living at home in Hackney and was eventually suspended as Bishop in 1684.

A very small chapel, with just 10 seats for the widows was added in 1845, and the almhouses refurbished in 1888, then in 1930 converted by the trustees into five self-contained apartments with separate facilities. After being requisitioned in World War II they reopened in 1948, and were further refurbished in 1985. Around 2010 the trustees decided that they were too expensive to maintain and bring up to modern standards and moved the residents to refurbished almshouses nearby in 2013. The buildings were put up for sale.

Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-46-Edit_2400 — *Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-46*

Pond House at 162 Lower Clapton Rd was clearly not in the best of condition when I photographed it in 1988, despite having been Grade II* listed back in 1951. It has this fine semicircular Doric porch and was built in a Greek Revivial style for City stockbroker Benjamin Walsh between 1802 and 1803. Walsh became an MP in 1808 to escape bankruptcy proceedings but had to sell the house in 1809. He was expelled from the Stock Exchange and convicted of felony after defrauding a fellow MP of £22,000 but was pardoned for dubious reasons.

In 1877 it changed from a family house to a Girl’s school which closed in 1904, and it then became a clothing factory. In 1939 it became a social club for volunteers in the Hackney Rifle Regiment, who made several alterations and repairs causing it to be placed on English Heritage’s At Risk register. The social club sold it for development in 2008.

After a two rejected planning applications it was finally redeveloped by One Housing Group with four homes in the main building and it looks in fine condition as pictures on the The Clapton Pond Neighbourhood Action Group web site show.

Former Salvation Army HQ, Congress Hall, Linscott Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 198 88-10b-31-Edit_2400 — *Former Salvation Army HQ, Congress Hall, Linscott Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 198 88-10b-31*

You can still see the shell of the former London Orphan Asylum dating from around 1823 by William Southcote Inman. The orphanage moved to Watford in 1867. In 1882 it became the the Salvation Army’s Congress Hall with a meeting hall built in what had been an open courtyard that could seat 4,700. Until 1929 it also housed the Salvation Army’s training college with accomodation for 150 men and 150 women. Congress Hall closed in 1970 and the building was acquired by Hackney Council, who demolished most of the building in 1976 to build Clapton Girl’s School on the site, leaving only the west portico and its flanking colonnades standing.

Former Salvation Army HQ, Congress Hall, Linscott Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 198 88-10b-34-Edit_2400 — *Former Salvation Army HQ, Congress Hall, Linscott Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 198 88-10b-34*

In 2003 permission was granted for a rear extension and use by The Learning Trust Hackney as the Portico City Learning Centre, with work costing £1.9m supported by a Heritage Lottery Grant which restored the deteriorating structure. You can read a recent detailed heritage statement on the Hackney Council web site.

Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-24-Edit_2400 — *Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, Hackney, 1988 88-10b-24*

A showroom wall display of spraying equipment somewhere on the Lower Clapton Road, between Linscott Road and Clapton Passage. There seemed to me a certain surreal quality to the display of around seventeen near identical spray guns.

My walk will continue in a later post. You can click on any of the images to go to larger images in my album 1988 London Photos, from where you can browse the album. The images in this post, but not in album, are displayed in the order they were taken on my walk.

Mainly Westminster

Archibishop Tenison School, Lambeth High St, Lambeth, 1987 87-9e-63-positive_2400

Thomas Tenison (1636- 1715) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. Archibishop Tenison School, Lambeth High St, and according to Wikipedia founded boys schools in Lambeth in 1685 and Croydon in 1714. A school for 12 girls began in Lambeth in 1706, and this was built as a new girls’ school in 1863. In 1961 the school amalgamated with a nearby Church of England boys school and this building went out of use, though it was later used as an annexe to the combined school until this closed in 1974. It has since been demolished and replaced by a hostel.

Bennett House, Page St, Westminster, 1987 87-9f-11-positive_2400

Bennett House in Page St, Wesminster is a Grade II listed tenement courtyard block of flats built in 1928-30. It was a part of the Westminster Housing Scheme for the Grosvenor Estate and Sir Edwin Lutyens acted as consultant; the listing text calls it “An imaginative Lutyens treatment of a standard LCC type of housing block.”

Unemployment Benefit Office, Chadwick St, Westminster, 1987 87-9f-55-positive_2400

I admired the stark simplicity of the Unemployment Benefit Office on Chadwick St, Westminster. It remained in use – with changes in name – closing as a Job Centre Plus in 2017.

Old Pye St, Westminster, 198787-9f-65-positive_2400

New office buildings seen from Old Pye Street in 1987. Parts of this still remain though rather more difficult to see.

Salvation Army, Great Peter St, Westminster, 1987 87-9f-66-positive_2400

The building on this corner still has the foundation stone laid by James S Burroughes in 1893, though it has moved a few yards around the corner and I think the site is now occupied by “modern purpose-built flats for single people and couples set in a city centre location” built by SAHA, the Salvation Army Housing Association and allocated through Westminster Borough Council’s housing register.

Vauxhall Bridge Rd, Westminster, 1987 87-9g-02-positive_2400

Avocet House at 92-96 Vauxhall Bridge Road was the home of Avo Ltd, a company founded by Post Office engineer Donald Macadie who was fed up with having to carry separate meters for different measurements and in 1923 designed a meter than would measure Amperes, Volts and Ohms. The Avometer was the leading electical test equipment for many years. The company became too large for this site and bought land for a new factory at Dover in 1962. The company is now called Megger, and its testers are still made and in use around the world.

Francis St, Westminster, 1987 87-9g-14-positive_2400

This 1865 Grade II listed building in a free version of Italian Renaissance style by H A Darbishire was an orphanage for children of Crimean War guardsmen. Later it became a Franciscan friary, and they added the statue of St Francis just visible at the far corner around 1960. When they moved on it became offices. Close to Westminster Cathedral, in 2017 it was bought by the cash-strapped Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster to be refurbished as a pre-prep for Westminster Cathedral Choir School, at a cost thought to be around £10million. The school is said to be the most expensive prep school in London, and sends pupils on to public schools including Eton and Winchester.

Shop window, Upper Tachbrook St, Westminster, 1987 87-9g-22-positive_2400

I don’t know which shop this was in Upper Tachbrook Street, but it appeared to be selling clothing, jewellery and similar items. From the few details of the shop front which can be seen it looks rather like that now occupied by ‘Mr CAD – For Everything Photographic’. This began around 1960 in Croydon, and although it at one time had nine branches at various sites from Colindale in north London to Brighton became just a giant Aladdin’s cave in Windmill Rd full of secondhand gear, moving to these rather smaller premises in Pimlico but also supplying mail order around the world as “the largest independent photographic dealer in the UKW with “the biggest stock of used analogue photographic equipment worldwide specialising in film, cameras, lenses, enlargers, chemicals, paper, all manner of studio & darkroom hardware & software.”

Clicking on any of the images above will take you to my Flickr album of over 750 images of London in 1987 selected from several thousand exposures I made that year

All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.