Brixton old coal depot, Popes Road

[CH1]

When Kwik Save took over the premises from Tesco (when the one in Acre Lane opened), they moved into Kwik Save (concession or something?)

Not quite as simple as that: The supermarket shop WAS Tescos remember!
The original Tesco store in Popes Road belonged to British Rail (no doubt held by Tesco on a long lease) and has now been tranferred to Spacia.
Tescos made sure it could not be used for food retailing for a stipulated period (5 years I believe) after they moved, to give their new store a BOOST, as we would now say, so the Popes Road supermarket just stood empty all that time. Meanwhile everyone moaned about Brixton Market going downhill rapidly. This was because potential shoppers now parked in the new Tescos in Acre Lane when they came to Brixton to shop. And going all the way down to the market was too much trouble. You know how it is with drivers - they forget what their legs are for!
Originally KwikSave had a shop on Brixton Road down oposite the Jam/White Horse. Before KwikSave that property had house Victor Value (an ancient down-market subsidiary of Tesco). Given the complexities of Tescos site ownership arrangements it is quite possible that KwikSave were a tenant of Tesco in Brixton Road, and then transfered their tenancy to Popes road When KwikSave moved into the Popes Road shop they did not want all the space and it was sub-divided with a furniture shop at the front on the left but only about half as deep as the full site. KwikSave only ever used about 60% of the floor space that Tescos had used - maybe less because there was a meat and cheese concession counter at the front - and a sort of children's play machine as well. The movement of Tescos to Acre Lane may also account for the decline of Popes Road car park.
The roof of KwikSave was originally a public car park as well, with steps leading up to it from Popes Road on the right hand side of the shop. In the short period around 1992-4 it became a night-time gay cruising area. I popped up there one night around 2 am and saw an amazing sight. There were police cars parked at an odd angle in the car park with their headlights lights shining down onto one of the arches to the right hand side of the KwikSave store. There were men smashing down the doors to an arch with sledgehammers.
Rather than insinuating that I was cruising and would be arrested, the police sent me home toute de suite. I guess they were doing a drugs raid, or looking for stolen property or something. An odd time to do a raid though - 2 am!

 

[CH1]

I thought it was inbev pka interbrew

well you haven't read the tin lately have you?

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

well you haven't read the tin lately have you?

can't say I have

 

[teuchter]

Came across a bit more about this here:

https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/ForeignDepotsofSthLondon.pdf

 

[Jimbeau]

Came across a bit more about this here:

https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/ForeignDepotsofSthLondon.pdf

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That's interesting. I wonder if the war damage was the same incident that wrecked the main Brixton station building. The 1945 aerial photos and 1944 OS maps clearly show the station without its roof - though neither records obvious damage to the coal depot. Oddly, the LCC bomb damage maps don't show either station or depot as damaged at all.

 

[teuchter]

That's interesting. I wonder if the war damage was the same incident that wrecked the main Brixton station building. The 1945 aerial photos and 1944 OS maps clearly show the station without its roof - though neither records obvious damage to the coal depot. Oddly, the LCC bomb damage maps don't show either station or depot as damaged at all.

Was it definitely bomb damage that wrecked the Brixton station building (rather than neglect)?

 

[Jimbeau]

Was it definitely bomb damage that wrecked the Brixton station building (rather than neglect)?

Fair enough question, I guess - especially regarding the northern pair of platforms, which would have been out of use for 20+ years by then.

I still find it hard to imagine that the ticket hall, waiting rooms and so on would have become so neglected in that time though.

 

[teuchter]

Fair enough question, I guess - especially regarding the northern pair of platforms, which would have been out of use for 20+ years by then.

I still find it hard to imagine that the ticket hall, waiting rooms and so on would have become so neglected in that time though.

I wonder if it might have become disused as part of the rationalisations described here

Brixton

www.kentrail.org.uk

Which was when they were doing electrification - I think that was separate to the abandonment of the N pair of platforms which seems to have happened along with the closure of E brixton during WW1 as "cost saving measures".

 

[Jimbeau]

I wonder if it might have become disused as part of the rationalisations described here

Brixton

www.kentrail.org.uk

Which was when they were doing electrification - I think that was separate to the abandonment of the N pair of platforms which seems to have happened along with the closure of E brixton during WW1 as "cost saving measures".

Maybe. It’s quite the mystery. Especially since the original station seems to have been so poorly photographed.

I guess there would have been little practical need for such a large facility, what with the ability to use the station arcade to access the Down platform and the Up platform only ever accessed by the street-side stairs.

Maybe the station was not an especially vital amenity by that time. No tube in Brixton yet, but plenty of trams and motor buses to a wider range of destinations in central London. A more useful junction a short walk away at Herne Hill too. Consistent with the radical remodelling and truncation of LJ in that period.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Maybe the station was not an especially vital amenity by that time. No tube in Brixton yet, but plenty of trams and motor buses to a wider range of destinations in central London. A more useful junction a short walk away at Herne Hill too. Consistent with the radical remodelling and truncation of LJ in that period.

It's certainly possible - a few stations and bits of railway in inner London closed c. 1917 as a wartime economy measure, and some (e.g. Walworth and Camberwell Stations, the Greenwich Park branch) didn't open again - by that time the middle class commuters had started moving to the outer suburbs, and the electrification and cheap fares policy of the LCC Tramways made quite a dent in the railways' working class market.

Don't think I've got anything to hand that would go in to detail

was some discussion of the buildings at Brixton Station here - started off about the cast iron pisser outside the station - station building marked as 'ruin' - not sure if the LCC bomb damage maps included damage to railway property. would need to do more digging, but about to go back to the (virtual) office...

 

[Jimbeau]

was some discussion of the buildings at Brixton Station here - started off about the cast iron pisser outside the station

Yeah - I looked back at that thread after posting earlier. Would be great to see a decent pic of the old building. Similar layout to Peckham Rye but with detailing presumably to match all the other LCDR buildings along that branch from the early 1860s. Just enough remains in the main stairwell to show the family resemblance to Herne Hill, Clapham High St, Penge East, etc.

 

[teuchter]

The coal depot seems to be more photographed than the station building... but I guess that's because it had already gone, by the time photography became relatively widespread.

Another of the coal depot here, looking in a sorry state. Would have been disused by this point.

Scenes | Brixton MR coal depot 11/10/53 RCR4842

The Transport Treasury

www.transporttreasury.com

 

[editor]

So I sneaked a peek at the space between the arches as the lines diverge (i.e. the other side of Valentia Place to where the coal staithes are) and you can see some curious wooden structure. Any ideas?



Zooming in:

 

[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: Pope's Road coal staithes and coal depot and coal depot, Brixton, Brixton SW9 - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2

Bigger version of the photo from here: