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Brixton history: Brixton Road and high level railway bridge

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I'm doing a few more 'Then and Now' features and it would be good to include as many memories as possible - so all feedback appreciated! Here's what I've posted up here. I remember that there was a 7/11 right by the tube and a furniture shop on the corner, but what where the other shops on that strip (now occupied by Sainsburys etc).


brixton-road-bridge.jpg


1948 This post war view of the centre of Brixton shows the high level railway bridge near the junction with Atlantic Road, emblazoned with an advertisement for the News Of The World newspaper.

Directly under the bridge is the jewellers, Sanders and Company, who opened their Brixton branch in 1908.

The shop window of Gents Outfitters Dunn & Co shows off a selection of hats, while the second railway bridge beyond the Marks and Spencer building advertises Mecca Dance.

(pic: Lambeth Archives)

brixton-road-bridge-1.jpg


July 2009 Things have changed substantially in the past sixty years, with the bridge's iconic advertising vanishing and the pavement area considerably expanded and pushed forward into the road.

A shopping development completed in the mid 2000s has swept away the older strip of shops which stand close to the tube station (see 1999 panorama).

Although the decorative stonework above the sign is still intact, Sanders was taken over by H.Samuel in April 1984 and subsequently closed down. The shop was then used by Homelook - a forerunner of the cheap pound stores now doing good business in Brixton - before that closed some time in the mid 2000s.
 
It was at one stage under the arch and it was also near the tube station.

Apparently during the riots, people were still going in and get their jacket spuds :D

I used to love Jackets.

I would go to the one on Clapham High Street.

Cottage Cheese and Pineapple was my favourite.

Baked spuds never really took off as a snack food though, even the big chain Spud U like, is no more.
 
cheers for these threads - i'm really liking them :)
(and mentally kicking my own arse to try find out more about the brixton society thingy that i've seen in the library)
 
I used to love Jackets.

I would go to the one on Clapham High Street.

Cottage Cheese and Pineapple was my favourite.

Baked spuds never really took off as a snack food though, even the big chain Spud U like, is no more.

Ratatoullie with garlic butter... :) and there was also a really good cauliflower cheese one.
 
bridge's iconic advertising

HA HA HA

I can really see everyone on here describing a giant ad for the NotW appearing across the railway bridge now as 'iconic' :D

Great threads generally tho...
 
Had no internet connection at work all afternoon.

Expected a few more responses when I got back home. Slackers :rolleyes::D
 
In the first photo I like the old skool lamp post, and it's curious how modern the pedestrian barrier thing right on the corner looks of modern design.
 
Detail from 1936 Post Card from Lambeth Archives (B7) View from Lambeth Town Hall
 

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so all feedback appreciated! Here's what I've posted up here. I remember that there was a 7/11 right by the tube and a furniture shop on the corner, but what where the other shops on that strip (now occupied by Sainsburys etc).


Wasn't that a furniture shop? I remember I bought my wardrobes from somewhere near the tube. It was either where Robills was or where Murray's Meat Market (now Iceland) was
 
I asked my friend if she could remember what was between the tube and the bridge before Robills/WH Smiths/Sainsburys was there and she thought there was a Co-op.

However, she did also think that Timothy White's was where Superdrug is now but that was actually where Boots is. :D
 
Mid '90s and immediately to the left of the tube as you face it, there was a general household store. Not techinically a £1 shop, but the quality was of the similar line ;)

I remember this as I bought a mop and bucket from here when I first moved to Brixton. During an excessive act of mopping out my new flat, I managed to make a hole in the bucket.

Being a cheeky young scamp about town at the time, I actually returned the bucket and demanded a refund.

Got chased out of the shop :oops:
 
Mid '90s and immediately to the left of the tube as you face it, there was a general household store. Not techinically a £1 shop, but the quality was of the similar line ;)

I remember this as I bought a mop and bucket from here when I first moved to Brixton. During an excessive act of mopping out my new flat, I managed to make a hole in the bucket.

Being a cheeky young scamp about town at the time, I actually returned the bucket and demanded a refund.

Got chased out of the shop :oops:

Makes me think of...

L: Henry! Fetch me some water!
H:There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza, dear Liza
There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza, a hole.

L: Well, fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Well, fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

H:With what shall I fix it ...
L: With a straw dear Henry ...
H:The straw is too long ...
L: Well, cut it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I cut it ...
L: With an axe dear Henry ...
H:The axe is too dull dear Liza ...
L: Well, sharpen it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I sharpen it ...
L: With a stone dear Henry ...
H:The stone is too dry dear Liza ...
L: Well, wet it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I wet it ...
L: With water dear Henry ...
H:In what shall I fetch it ...
L: In a bucket dear Henry ...
H:There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza ...
 
Makes me think of...

L: Henry! Fetch me some water!
H:There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza, dear Liza
There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza, a hole.

L: Well, fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Well, fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

H:With what shall I fix it ...
L: With a straw dear Henry ...
H:The straw is too long ...
L: Well, cut it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I cut it ...
L: With an axe dear Henry ...
H:The axe is too dull dear Liza ...
L: Well, sharpen it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I sharpen it ...
L: With a stone dear Henry ...
H:The stone is too dry dear Liza ...
L: Well, wet it dear Henry ...
H:With what shall I wet it ...
L: With water dear Henry ...
H:In what shall I fetch it ...
L: In a bucket dear Henry ...
H:There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza ...


aaargh, for some reason someone was singing that in the pub the other night and we all ended up trying to remember the next lines. I think we'd all forgotten past the axe bit :D
 
I suspect "Robills Appreciation Society" T-shirts would outsell the Baby Eating Anarchists ones among posters on this forum.

I'd buy one. :D In the early 90s I reckon I furnished my house from Robills, despite being up the road in Battersea.

Up until I left Battersea in 2007 there was a very decent Robills substitute at the Clapham Junction end of Lavender Hill.

I vaguely remember Brixton in the early 80s - there were a lot of cheap shoe shops on Brixton Road IIRC. But my main memory is of the Ritzy before it was done up.
 
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