Amazing photo of Rushcroft Road, children's Coronation tea party, June 1953

[editor]

I've just seen this amazing view of Rushcroft Road on eBay (bid for it here!) showing a post war view of a very different looking street.

I couldn't quite work out where the photo was taken until I realised it must have been taken from the site of the new housing (below).

I know that the Brixton Theatre was bombed during WW2, so this must have been how they left the site for many years



Anyone got any more details?

 

[editor]

*Giving this a little bump as I did post it rather late last night!

It must have been amazing having so much space in central Brixton, although it looks like it was fenced off.

 

[CH1]

It must have been amazing having so much space in central Brixton, although it looks like it was fenced off

I moved to Brixton in 1978 - and by then it was used as a car park, which remained the case until around 1994 as far as I recall.

 

[editor]

I moved to Brixton in 1978 - and by then it was used as a car park, which remained the case until around 1994 as far as I recall.

I was here in 1994 but don't remember that bit at all. Lost in the alcoholic fug, I imagine

 

[Casaubon]

*Giving this a little bump as I did post it rather late last night!

It must have been amazing having so much space in central Brixton, although it looks like it was fenced off.

Thats a lovely pic, I might bid on it. If anyone else on here is thinking of bidding on it maybe you could let me know, so we can avoid bidding each other up.

The flats on that site were built in '95, if I remember correctly.
I lived on Rushcroft Rd, and at the time I was doing a load of work on my flat. The skips on the building site were very handy for disposing of the huge amounts of Victorian plaster I had to get rid of.
Before that it was an open bomb-site which served as a car park. It was surrounded by a chain-link fence but there were no restrictions on parking, or charges.
Mind you, it wasn't exactly a nice spot - it was unlit, cars would very often be broken into (the ground was always covered in broken glass), and dangerous/unpleasant people often lurked there.
This pic was taken around 1990, I think, from almost the same spot.

Edited to add - I've just noticed that this is my 100th post, a real milestone. And it's only taken 12 years. Yay! for me.

 

[leanderman]

I've just noticed that this is my 100th post, a real milestone. And it's only taken 12 years. Yay! for me.
View attachment 51303

Probably a higher output than your namesake!

 

[Casaubon]

And here’s a pic from ’85, showing the outside of the car park, with Electric Lane in the background.

I should probably explain the context.
My girlfriend at the time, as part of her fine art degree dissertation, put together a ‘photo-love’ story. (Do they still exist?). The plot called for the male lead (me) to be discovered in flagrante with my gf’s best friend. GF storms out, distraught, and I follow, to be tragically mown down by traffic.
As we went outside to take the pics a rag-and-bone man was coming past. We improvised, and the car accident became a totters cart accident.



I think that was probably the last time I saw a horse-drawn rag-and-bone man in London.

 

[editor]

I think that was probably the last time I saw a horse-drawn rag-and-bone man in London.

One used to clatter along Coldharbour Lane in the early 1990s.

 

[Rushy]

And here’s a pic from ’85, showing the outside of the car park, with Electric Lane in the background.

I should probably explain the context.
My girlfriend at the time, as part of her fine art degree dissertation, put together a ‘photo-love’ story. (Do they still exist?). The plot called for the male lead (me) to be discovered in flagrante with my gf’s best friend. GF storms out, distraught, and I follow, to be tragically mown down by traffic.
As we went outside to take the pics a rag-and-bone man was coming past. We improvised, and the car accident became a totters cart accident.

View attachment 51309

I think that was probably the last time I saw a horse-drawn rag-and-bone man in London.

The horse looks genuinely concerned

 

[editor]

The horse looks genuinely concerned

You would be too with that standard of acting.

 

[Casaubon]

You would be too with that standard of acting.

Suddenly everyone's a critic.............

 

[editor]

Suddenly everyone's a critic.............

"A little more pain, and a little less horse..."

 

[oryx]

The horse looks genuinely concerned

yes, it does!

Great photos, both the one in the OP & Casaubon's.

 

[Orang Utan]

View attachment 51243

I've just seen this amazing view of Rushcroft Road on eBay (bid for it here!) showing a post war view of a very different looking street.

I couldn't quite work out where the photo was taken until I realised it must have been taken from the site of the new housing (below).

I know that the Brixton Theatre was bombed during WW2, so this must have been how they left the site for many years

View attachment 51244

Anyone got any more details?

Which bit of Coldharbour Lane is that? It doesn't look like any bit I know

 

[editor]

Which bit of Coldharbour Lane is that? It doesn't look like any bit I know

It's not Coldharbour Lane. This map shows the rough direction the photographer was looking. Those buildings (where the arrow is overlaid) weren't there then.

 

[Orang Utan]

In the second Streetview pic, the right fork is labelled Coldharbour Lane isn't it?

 

[Casaubon]

In the second Streetview pic, the right fork is labelled Coldharbour Lane isn't it?

It should be labelled Electric Lane.

 

[Orang Utan]

It should be labelled Electric Lane.

Aaah - in all my years in Brixton, I don't think I ever walked down Rushcroft Road.

 

[Casaubon]

Aaah - in all my years in Brixton, I don't think I ever walked down Rushcroft Road.

You haven't lived.

 

[leanderman]

Aaah - in all my years in Brixton, I don't think I ever walked down Rushcroft Road.

Served as the location for Ben Whishaw's flat in The Hour on the BBC

 

[Casaubon]

Served as the location for Ben Whishaw's flat in The Hour on the BBC

If we're getting into Rushcroft trivia............
Both these Depeche Mode covers were shot in Oval House, where the photographer Peter Ashworth lived for a few years.
The first features me and my girlfriend of the time (who's in the horse pic above).
The second is her arm, but not mine - I was on holiday at the time, another geezer stood in.




Rushcroft Rd in the 80s and 90s was a fantastic place to live.
I'll never, never forgive Lambeth council.

 

[editor]

View attachment 51336

Rushcroft Rd in the 80s and 90s was a fantastic place to live.
I'll never, never forgive Lambeth council.

Ooo! How do you fancy writing a bit more about this for Brixton Buzz? I think it's important to document and share these memories and these photos before the Brixton we all loved has vanished forever....

 

[Casaubon]

Ooo! How do you fancy writing a bit more about this for Brixton Buzz? I think it's important to document and share these memories and these photos before the Brixton we all loved has vanished forever....

Er, maybe. What sort of thing are you thinking of?

I so wish I'd written down more at the time, and taken more pics. (Young folk take note - your memory WILL fail.).
It'd probably be best to try and get a few of the other residents to trawl their memories, and photos. I'll contact a few people, and see if I can rustle anything up.

 

[editor]

Er, maybe. What sort of thing are you thinking of?

I so wish I'd written down more at the time, and taken more pics. (Young folk take note - your memory WILL fail.).
It'd probably be best to try and get a few of the other residents to trawl their memories, and photos. I'll contact a few people, and see if I can rustle anything up.

That would be fantastic!

It doesn't have to be one massive, all-encompassing article - it would be OK to do several themed short pieces if that makes it easier for you.

I'm really passionate about recording Brixton life, and with the place undergoing some of the biggest changes it's ever seen, it's important to post it up before it's gone or forgotten completely!

 

[Onket]

Great thread!

 

[Casaubon]

I've just found these two pics, dating from the late 80s.
They're taken from the roof of Clifton Mansions, looking towards Rushcroft Rd, showing the car park that was on the corner of Rushcroft/Electric Lane. The flat roof at the bottom of the second pic is the original Brixton Cycles.

 

[Jangleballix]

If we're getting into Rushcroft trivia............
Both these Depeche Mode covers were shot in Oval House, where the photographer Peter Ashworth lived for a few years.
The first features me and my girlfriend of the time (who's in the horse pic above).
The second is her arm, but not mine - I was on holiday at the time, another geezer stood in.
View attachment 51335

View attachment 51336

Rushcroft Rd in the 80s and 90s was a fantastic place to live.
I'll never, never forgive Lambeth council.

Rushcroft rock trivia Pt.2
Regine out of Hard Corps lived there as did Andy Sex Gang.

 

[Casaubon]

Yet another picture of the car park, taken by a friend who lived in Hereford House (corner of Rushcroft Rd and Electric Lane), mid- or late 80s.

The police were often there, looking at robbed/stolen/abandoned cars.