General Brixton history - photos, stories etc

[editor]

I would have loved to have taken a look in that signal box.

Look at those lovely semaphores at Herne Hill

 

[peterkro]

Hackford road.

Another louche hanger on in the area was Dylan Thomas although in his case Herne hill, many claim Milkwood road is where Under Milkwood came from I don't know but it certainly seems possible.

 

[editor]

Another louche hanger on in the area was Dylan Thomas although in his case Herne hill, many claim Milkwood road is where Under Milkwood came from I don't know but it certainly seems possible.

I wrote a piece about that few years ago Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood and the south London connection

 

[sealion]

Another louche hanger on in the area was Dylan Thomas although in his case Herne hill, many claim Milkwood road is where Under Milkwood came from I don't know but it certainly seems possible.

Brixton and it surrounds where pretty affluent back then and had quite a few theatres and artistes living in the area.

 

[teuchter]

And Mendelssohn lived next to what's now Ruskin park, apparently.

 

[sealion]

And Mendelssohn lived next to what's now Ruskin park, apparently.

Isn't the sundial in Ruskin park dedicated to him ?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I would ave loved to have taken a look in that signal box.

not able to oblige

would this tour of shepherds lane box do as an alternative?

(think this was the SB marked behind 234 Ferndale Road here)

 

[peterkro]

Isn't the sundial in Ruskin park dedicated to him ?

And John Ruskin Himself who with his weird phobia about pubic hair lived up the hill and did some great work although his views on sexuality was very very strange.

The large house on the corner of Wiltshire road and St Johns crescent was home to a very famous female music hall star,Unfortunately I can't bring her name into my brain.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Is this local enough?
Worcester House, at the top of Kennington Rd opposite the Imperial War Museum.

Bomb damage, 8 September 1940.

View attachment 111698

Wow!
Fantastic picture! It's great to get to see how these old LCC/GLC blocks were constructed!

 

[editor]

Some boozy history.

 

[editor]

This shows the Post Office on Acre Lane after WW2 bomb damage. Any idea where it was?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

This shows the Post Office on Acre Lane after WW2 bomb damage. Any idea where it was?

View attachment 112609

fairly sure i have seen this before and did locate it, think it was the parade opposite town hall, but i am on the move now so searching is not so easy.

nls map archive may help

 

[editor]

fairly sure i have seen this before and did locate it, think it was the parade opposite town hall, but i am on the move now so searching is not so easy.

That's where I think it was.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

That's where I think it was.

just searched - discussed on this thread in dec 14. 10 acre lane seemed to be it.

This (V1 and V2 logs) records a "V1 struck a row of shops/buildings opposite the Town Hall in Acre Lane" on 28 June 1944 (article about it on brixton buzz here)

Bomb Sight records two high explosive bombs landing on Acre Lane in the 1940-41 blitz.

My 1939 equivalent of an A-Z does not mark post offices

www.old-maps.co.uk shows a post office at 10 Acre Lane in 1951 and a fairly large empty space (bomb site?) behind.

10-18 Acre Lane got re-developed in the 1970s - this parade of shops / flats

The two stripes of light coloured brickwork in the building to the right of the post office match 8 Acre Lane (Street View shows it as Banks Opticians)

I can't be certain, but 10 Acre Lane seems a strong candidate.

There is a post box outside - sometimes these show traces of having had a "post office ->" sign fixed on top where they used to be outside a sub post office. I can't tell from Street View whether it has this.

Has anyone got a 1930s directory that would cover Brixton?

(edited - error in street numbers)

 

[lang rabbie]

Isn't the sundial in Ruskin park dedicated to him ?

It was.

A further c 10m south, on the inner edge of the perimeter path, are the remains of a terracotta sundial decorated with Tudor roses (listed grade II). The sundial was erected to commemorate Mendelssohn's visit to 168 Denmark Hill, Dane House, in 1842. Both the inscription recording this event and the brass dial have gone.

There is a plan to move it from under the tree and restore it some point...
Restoration of the Mendelssohn sundial

 

[Simon Hannah]

Dear all,

I am doing some research into Lambeth from 1978-1992, specifically the Council, its 'loony left' image, but I also want to discuss the culture and politics of the borough during that time. (Article here on www.brixtonbuzz.com/2016/01/local-academic-looking-for-contributions-as-part-of-phd-research-on-the-radical-lambeth-council-of-the-1980s/)

I have got a blog which I am slowly populating with material as I find it Radical Lambeth : 1978-1992

If anyone lived or worked in Lambeth during those years and would be willing to meet for a cup of tea/beer and a chat to help me with the research then please get in touch!

radical.lambeth@gmail.com

Cheers!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

on flickr today



Comment on the photo mentions that "Brixton always was well known for used car dealers"

edit - at 10 Effra Road - Brockwell Court to left - current street view here

1940s map here

 

[newbie]

I used to attend the Lambeth Federation of Housing Coops meetings. I kept all the minutes. It's part of the Carlton Mansions deposit.

As you were around Brixton in those years it's worth you writing down your personal memories. It's oral history which is important. Minutes if meetings are useful. The archivist us interested in how the short life worked as a form of Housing policy. But the other side of it is the subjective view. What Brixton was like. Etc.

hmm. I think I've got some minutes of All Lambeth Squatters meetings from mid 70s. Somewhere. In a box. One of many. gulp.

 

[CH1]

on flickr today

can find a reference to them being at 63 Effra Road (late 40s mapping here - the buildings to left and behind were industrial not flats)

What intrigues me was that according to your map the much-loved Cooltan factory (67 Effra Road) was originally described as a "Glove Factory"
I wonder if it was the same building - with the a Critall Window quasi art deco facade?

(picture from the Urban75 history section on squats)

 

[Puddy_Tat]

What intrigues me was that according to your map the much-loved Cooltan factory (67 Effra Road) was originally described as a "Glove Factory"
I wonder if it was the same building - with the a Critall Window quasi art deco facade?

(picture from the Urban75 history section on squats)

That looks pretty much 1930s, so probably so.

at curved crittall windows.

A search on 67 Effra Road finds a 1952 London Gazette entry about the winding up of Coldprufe Leathers Ltd (here - opens as pdf)

 

[Gramsci]

hmm. I think I've got some minutes of All Lambeth Squatters meetings from mid 70s. Somewhere. In a box. One of many. gulp.

The Archives would be very interested in those.

 

[Gramsci]

This is on at the Archives. Alexandra is a MA student who has been cataloguing the Carlton Mansions collection.

The exhibition is part of her dissertation. Its about her response to the archive. (and others). Its also sbout theory behind archiving.

There is a blog to go with it.


Carlton Mansions

This blog documents the process of cataloguing the recently acquired Carlton Mansions Collection housed at Lambeth Archives. While often framed as an act of archival science, here the subjectivities of cataloguing archival material are explored.
Carlton Mansions, existed as a short life housing co-op in Brixton from 1979-2014, the material in the collection covers this period - but in fragments. No linear narrative awaits discovery, instead, as seen in the photographs and observations that populate this space, these objects offer competing ideas, clashing voices and numerous gaps. Perhaps most of all though, they reveal evocative traces of an experiment in housing, and a community committed to making it work.

 

[editor]

Brixton history: Coldharbour Lane and Brixton Road photos taken 100 years apart

 

[editor]

Brixton 15 Years Ago: Brady’s, The Queen and The Angel, signs and graffiti, August 2002

 

[editor]

Ten years ago

Brixton Ten Years Ago: Brixton Splash, the Camberwell Submarine, and Jesus Police, August 2007

 

[ViolentPanda]

Dear all,

I am doing some research into Lambeth from 1978-1992, specifically the Council, its 'loony left' image, but I also want to discuss the culture and politics of the borough during that time. (Article here on www.brixtonbuzz.com/2016/01/local-academic-looking-for-contributions-as-part-of-phd-research-on-the-radical-lambeth-council-of-the-1980s/)

I have got a blog which I am slowly populating with material as I find it Radical Lambeth : 1978-1992

If anyone lived or worked in Lambeth during those years and would be willing to meet for a cup of tea/beer and a chat to help me with the research then please get in touch!

radical.lambeth@gmail.com

Cheers!

Simon, Ted Knight is still alive and kicking as chair of the Gipsy Hill Labour Party. He's still as sharp as when he led the council.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Brixton in 1981 by Ian Berry.

posted on tweeter today by david olusoga

 

[Puddy_Tat]

on flickr today - described as 'Effra Road 1947'

seems to be somewhere between a dealer and a scrapyard



looking at the maps online (and flicking between the 1947 and the 1920s ones) I think it's west side of the road, just north of Crownstone Road with the buildings in the background being St Matthew's Road (none of the buildings visible - if it's where I think it is - are still there for reference) - but open to alternative suggestions

 

[friendofdorothy]

on flickr today - described as 'Effra Road 1947'

seems to be somewhere between a dealer and a scrapyard



looking at the maps online (and flicking between the 1947 and the 1920s ones) I think it's west side of the road, just north of Crownstone Road with the buildings in the background being St Matthew's Road (none of the buildings visible - if it's where I think it is - are still there for reference) - but open to alternative suggestions

Those gate posts look quite destinctive. I'll look out for them next time I go past, to see if they still exist.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Those gate posts look quite destinctive. I'll look out for them next time I go past, to see if they still exist.

did try to find them on street view, but happy hunting!