Brixton old coal depot, Popes Road

[editor]

*unzips anorak

I realise I've mined a niche of an obscure niche here, but what the hell: here's a bit of history abut the old coal staithes that used to be on Popes Rd in Brixton.

I've seen one photo from track level and the whole thing was made from wood, and I figured it must have vanished some time in the late 50s/early 60s.

Anyone have any more info?

Spoddy feature here: http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/popes-road-staithes.html

 

[walkssoftly]

Cool pic. I remember Tesco being on that site in 1970..

 

[editor]

Cool pic. I remember Tesco being on that site in 1970..

I remember Kwik Save there too in the 90s.

 

[tarannau]

I still find it strange that our 1950s concrete tower, much the same design as the Camberwell fire disaster block, once had fireplaces for coal. There's even a big concrete 'silo' by the door for coal, with associated cubbyholes and shovelling portholes.

I think I may need educating on the exact language of the coal era really. But it really wasn't that long ago.

 

[editor]

I'm old enough (just!) to remember the coalman coming around and lobbing a few sackfuls of coal in a little bunker we had iin the back yard.

Vast amounts of the stuff used to be carried all over the UK, and coal staithes like the one in Pope's Road were a way of delivering stocks fast. The train would shunt a load of wagons up the siding and their contents would be dropped into the various coal merchants stores below.

 

[walkssoftly]

I can also remember the coal man making his rounds in the 70's in a flat bed truck with sacks of coal on the back....

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I'm old enough (just!) to remember the coalman coming around and lobbing a few sackfuls of coal in a little bunker we had iin the back yard.

Vast amounts of the stuff used to be carried all over the UK, and coal staithes like the one in Pope's Road were a way of delivering stocks fast. The train would shunt a load of wagons up the siding and their contents would be dropped into the various coal merchants stores below.

Yep, I remember my grandfather getting deliveries. I wonder what all those little cellars/bunkers are holding now. Garden tools, pots of paint etc.

 

[tarannau]

Our coal bunker by the front door holds the gas boiler and very little else, a poor use of space for something so capacious. I shove shoes and wrapping paper rolls in the gaps to the side, but it's a waste of space

 

[teuchter]

*unzips anorak

I realise I've mined a niche of an obscure niche here,

 

[Pip]

I remember Kwik Save there too in the 90s.

Ahh, I was trying to work out where that was, thanks.

I still find it strange that our 1950s concrete tower, much the same design as the Camberwell fire disaster block, once had fireplaces for coal. There's even a big concrete 'silo' by the door for coal, with associated cubbyholes and shovelling portholes.

I think I may need educating on the exact language of the coal era really. But it really wasn't that long ago.

The 1960s (?) block I grew up in had a coal hole too. Our dog used to sleep in it. I've been trying to work out where it went in the block I'm in now. Maybe it was built with gas fires? Who knows?
What I find funny is that the girls my mum works with (intelligent, well educated girls only a couple of years younger than me) have no idea about what coal and coke is, let alone how extensively it was used and what it meant for Britain.

 

[Spion]

What I find funny is that the girls my mum works with (intelligent, well educated girls only a couple of years younger than me) have no idea about what coal and coke is, let alone how extensively it was used and what it meant for Britain.

That's tickled me most of any post I read today, for some reason. I can see them getting a lecture on this sometime soon

 

[Pip]

That's tickled me most of any post I read today, for some reason. I can see them getting a lecture on this sometime soon

I think it's already happened

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Ahh, I was trying to work out where that was, thanks.

They had a cheese/deli counter on the right hand side as you came through the door. They sold cheap packs of meat on the other side. The meat was cheap, chewy crap.

 

[Pip]

They had a cheese/deli counter on the right hand side as you came through the door. They sold cheap packs of meat on the other side. The meat was cheap, chewy crap.

Nah I remember where Kwik Save was, I was trying to work out where the coal depot was. All I remember about Kwik Save was the massive towers of cardboard boxes.

 

[editor]

They had a cheese/deli counter on the right hand side as you came through the door. They sold cheap packs of meat on the other side. The meat was cheap, chewy crap.

Cheap as fuck, mind.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Cheap as fuck, mind.

yep, only went there because my b/f knew the girls behind the deli counter. I wonder where they ended up as they'd worked in Brixton for years (there was a mother and daughter working there)

Just asked b/f. They used to work in a family owned deli that had an entrance opposite Brady's

 

[editor]

It's amazing how quickly this stuff gets forgotten. Even though I'm always taking photos around Brixton, things can change really quickly and landmarks vanish forever with little to remember them by (I'm not saying that Kwik Save deserves a memorial or anything (!), but I hope you get what I mean).

There seems to be little trace of some of the pubs I've covered in the Lost Pubs section, despite them serving as focus for communities for decades.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

It's amazing how quickly this stuff gets forgotten. Even though I'm always taking photos around Brixton, things can change really quickly and landmarks vanish forever with little to remember them by (I'm not saying that Kwik Save deserves a memorial or anything (!), but I hope you get what I mean).

There seems to be little trace of some of the pubs I've covered in the Lost Pubs section, despite them serving as focus for communities for decades.

Yeah, b/f said they had the deli business opposite Brady's for quite a while. Was owned by a guy called Mario but he can't remember the name of the place. Apparently it was very popular. It was under the railway arches so had two entrances, the other being in Pope's Road. When Kwik Save took over the premises from Tesco (when the one in Acre Lane opened), they moved into Kwik Save (concession or something?)

My b/f fondly remembers it as Tesco as he did a bit of shoplifting there

 

[tarannau]

I only ever went to the Kwik Save in Aberystwyth of all places. It was a bad mistake to buy BBQ ingredients from there - dogscock MRM sausages that shrunk and split alarmingly and 'no frills' burgers that looked and tasted like carpet underlay.

I still remember Kwik Save, but it's not a memory I treasure.

 

[editor]

I've just posted up an updated piece about the old Brixton coal depot in Pope's Road:
http://www.urban75.org/blog/lost-scenes-of-brixton-the-coal-depot-at-popes-road/

 

[teuchter]

Nice photos - where did you find them?

Looks like there was a headshunt which had its own bridge over Valentia Place too.

 

[editor]

Nice photos - where did you find them?

Looks like there was a headshunt which had its own bridge over Valentia Place too.

They're all credited at the bottom of the article (Lambeth Landmark), except the coal advert which has the source right next to it. The modern photos are mine.

 

[CH1]

I'm not saying that Kwik Save deserves a memorial or anything

The KwikSave was excellent - until it started selling booze. Though even then they had that bottled Trinidad lager at very reasonable price. Better than canned Red Stripe. Red Stripe is made by Wells & Youngs in Bedford so at least yr Backing Britain by buying Jamaican. Unlike most canned beer these days which is either Carlsberg or Heineken owned.

 

[CH1]

The coal depot came up in the traffic consultation yesterday. Were you there? Don't remeber any men apart from me, Alan Piper & some of the staff though. Maybe Ed is a closet traffic engineer?

 

[teuchter]

The coal depot came up in the traffic consultation yesterday. Were you there? Don't remeber any men apart from me, Alan Piper & some of the staff though. Maybe Ed is a closet traffic engineer?

are they concerned about horse & cart congestion around the coal depot?

 

[CH1]

are they concerned about horse & cart congestion around the coal depot?

Not really, but me and Alan tried as hard as possible to keep them off topic.
Alan suggested a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road between the notoriously BIG car wash and the shops.
They like that.
They were VERY keen to have 20 mph zones everywhere, but not one of the six members of the public wanted it.
They also outlined some further consultation meetings over the next couple of months - no good to me - I shall be Promenading!
The most amusing part of the evening was when they turned on their PowerPoint machine, and it said "This copy of Windows in not Genuine" This is Stockwell Partners. Are they phoney - or does Lambeth Council normally employ dud consultants? And if they can't afford Windows why don't they use Ubuntu/Open Office or Ubuntu/Libre Office??

 

[Mrs Magpie]

The most amusing part of the evening was when they turned on their PowerPoint machine, and it said "This copy of Windows in not Genuine" This is Stockwell Partners. Are they phoney - or does Lambeth Council normally employ dud consultants? And if they can't afford Windows why don't they use Ubuntu/Open Office or Ubuntu/Libre Office??

Must have been comedy gold!
To be fair, I have had this with perfectly legit copies. Windows doesn't like it if you use another machine, or if you replace a knackered hard drive in a machine..

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

It's amazing how quickly this stuff gets forgotten. Even though I'm always taking photos around Brixton, things can change really quickly and landmarks vanish forever with little to remember them by (I'm not saying that Kwik Save deserves a memorial or anything (!), but I hope you get what I mean).

There seems to be little trace of some of the pubs I've covered in the Lost Pubs section, despite them serving as focus for communities for decades.

kwiksave does deserve

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

The KwikSave was excellent - until it started selling booze. Though even then they had that bottled Trinidad lager at very reasonable price. Better than canned Red Stripe. Red Stripe is made by Wells & Youngs in Bedford so at least yr Backing Britain by buying Jamaican. Unlike most canned beer these days which is either Carlsberg or Heineken owned.

I thought it was inbev pka interbrew

 

[Puddy_Tat]

are they concerned about horse & cart congestion around the coal depot?

and emissions from goods vehicles