editor
hiraethified
Around 1905 give or take 10 years, I'd suggest.
General Brixton history - photos, stories etc
- Thread starter editor
- Start date
David Clapson
Well-Known Member
More about the Barrier Block and the unbuilt motorway in the Guardian the other day London’s lost mega-motorway: the eight-lane ring road that would have destroyed much of the city
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
Morley & Lanceley opened 1880 became just Morleys in 1927. Is that the town hall clock tower, its not clear? as that was built 1908. Fashions could suggest 1880s-1900s. Dont see tram tracks in the road - perhaps that would date it? Puddy_TatLove to see a non watermarked copy of this fine postcard!
editor
hiraethified
It has to be the town hall in the background - it lines up perfectly in modern pics.
Here's another view looking the opposite way - the tram tracks aren't very visible in this shot either:
Brixton history in photos – Brixton Road captured just before the First World War
Here’s another of our occasional dips into Brixton’s rich history, and this time we’re taking a close look at an animated postcard scene overlooking Brixton Road in the Edwardian …
www.brixtonbuzz.com
BusLanes
Pedestrian
One of the people in a street WhatsApp I belong to said she still has the compulsory purchase letter her parents were sent before the project was cancelled.
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
Could be worth donating to the Archives - I don't imagine many of those letters survived.
editor
hiraethified
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I went Googling (briefly) because I understood that the whole terrace 286-320 Coldharbour Lane had a basement closure order on it in the 1970s, effectively making the houses unsaleable. I picked this up chatting with one of the original Brixton Society people - long since moved on. The general thesis of my colleague was this had made demolition and motorway development more feasible at the time. However I found in the Welcome Institute of all places has a 1937 report of the Medical Office for Health for Lambeth in 1937. This mentions 298 Coldharbour Lane, but two others in Agell Ward and lots in Lambeth generally.
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth Borough] page 69
wellcomelibrary.org
I had formed the view watching the documentary series "The Secret History of Our Streets" that councils deployed inspectors to get people out of properties they wanted to demolish for development - for council estates as well as motorways. It may be that my Brixton Soc friend was right - that Public Health were happy to condemn our terrace as "unfit" when at least by the 1980s with the advent of Conservation Areas solutions to cure the problems would have been sought.
Seems that for some reason 298 Coldharbour Lane basement was unfit for habitation in 1937, never mind 1967.
This could be because of damp and flooding. Thames Water put in some sort of pumping station on Barrington Road/Wyck Gardens to remove waste rainwater from the drains and alleviate flooding. Took them until 2007 to do it mind!
Issue - items at meetings - Wyck Gardens, Millbrook Road (Coldharbour Ward) | Lambeth Council
moderngov.lambeth.gov.uk
Funnily enough 318 basement was another perennial victim of flooding - and this property has been rented out to Lambeth for emergency housing for many years. This too will have greatly benefited from Thames Water's pumping station.
felonius monk
Well-Known Member
From the British Newspaper Archive: In the late 1870s and 1880s 228 CHL was Allen's Lending Library which also acted as a clearing house for small ads in the South London Press (servants wanted, furniture for sale et). Maybe a precursor to the Tate Library.
In 1886 it was Leslie's Free Registry Office for Servants though possibly still just a PO address.
In 1894 J Allen was looking for post-season fixtures for his football team Denmark Rangers of the Camberwell and Brixton League.
Still selling hosiery as late as 1927 by mail (prop: S. Haim).
editor
hiraethified
Oh thanks for that. Let me add that to the article (with a credit, natch!).
felonius monk
Well-Known Member
Short update: Kelly's Directory for Surrey 1878 lists Joseph Allen (Stationer) at 228 CHL. Shops like Boots and WH Smith operated Lending Libraries back then (even into the 1940s), so plausible that the shop operated as a stationer and library.
Puddy_Tat
santa paws, do you ever come to the ghetto?
think i can just see tram tracks. some postcard publishers would try to edit tram lines (or outside inner london, the overhead wires) out
if the town hall went up in 1908, it must be after that - and brixton road had trams well before that.
building had a major fire in 1910, so possibly before that?
Puddy_Tat
santa paws, do you ever come to the ghetto?
1896 London suburbs directory lists Joseph Allen, newsagent &c at 228
1904 - Brown & Son, hosiers
(still there in 1919, which is the most recent one that's in public domain.)
happyshopper
Well-Known Member
I’ve always been confused about which is ”Brixton bus garage”. To me the picture looks like the one on Brixton Hill, rather than the one on Streatham Hill.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I thought that at first, but this resumé with picture of the original Brixton garage opposite Telford Avenue on Urban changed my mind. Also look at the accompanying 1923 Brixton Hill tram shed annex and see what you think. For me the apparently smaller arch at Streatham Hill - with some sort of ridge at the junction of the arch and the perpendicular seems more ornate than the functional Brixton Hill shed entrance. Lcc Tram Depot, Streatham Hill, Brixton. Historical Brixton - old and new photos of Brixton, Lambeth, London, SW9 and SW2
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
The larger former tram depot opposite Telford Avenue was demolished in the weeks immediately after the last tram ran and replaced with a new bus garage - much more functional but certainly less architecturally distinguished.
editor
hiraethified
I fixed the link in the old urban article - here's the thread about the tram depot - Brixton's trams: archive photos and the underground station that never was
Puddy_Tat
santa paws, do you ever come to the ghetto?
we've had this before.
^ yes. This one was known as either Streatham Hill or Telford Avenue (or occasionally Streatham) tram depot.
When buses replaced trams, London Transport called it Brixton Garage, as there was already a Streatham Bus garage (it was where the big Tesco on Streatham High Road is now.)
There were a few other places like this, like Camberwell where there's now two bus garages almost opposite each other. The place that's now a 1950s building used by Abellio had previously been Camberwell tram depot, but it was re-named and rebuilt as Walworth bus garage when trams went, as there was already a Camberwell bus garage (the one on the south side of the road that's now Go-Ahead London.)
The one that's still standing at Brixton Hill with 'LCC Tramways' above the door was always known as Brixton Hill, and was an annexe / outstation to Telford Avenue depot. It was sold off (or rented out) after trams were abandoned, and only came back in to use for buses relatively recently.
happyshopper
Well-Known Member
Thanks to all.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Someone sent me this link before Christmas.
boroughphotos.org
It relates to an article posted by editor in May 2021 General Brixton history - photos, stories etc
CHILDREN OUTSIDE WARTIME PREFABS: WORLD WAR II
Sandra and Colin Lark playing outside prefabricated Nissen Hut houses. The Lark's were allocated a prefab in Loughborough Gardens, Brixton North, built by American engineers in 1944 as temporary accommodation for bombed-out families. Their daughter Sandra recalls: ' the entrance led into a large room with fireplace in the centre of the wall that divided the bedroom at the rear from the main living area. Mother hung a curtain on the right which hid the sink in which we bathed, the cooker and the dining table....there were two outside privies [toilets] and coal sheds in front, for our house and the one next door.Digital image by kind permission of Sandra Clark. From the Lambeth Archives Home Front project 2005.
CHILDREN OUTSIDE WARTIME PREFABS: WORLD WAR II - Landmark
Sandra and Colin Lark playing outside prefabricated Nissen Hut houses. The Lark’s were allocated a prefab in Loughborough Gardens, Brixton North, built by American engineers in 1944 as temporary accommodation for bombed-out families. Their daughter Sandra recalls: ‘ the entrance led into a large...
CHILDREN OUTSIDE WARTIME PREFABS: WORLD WAR II
Sandra and Colin Lark playing outside prefabricated Nissen Hut houses. The Lark's were allocated a prefab in Loughborough Gardens, Brixton North, built by American engineers in 1944 as temporary accommodation for bombed-out families. Their daughter Sandra recalls: ' the entrance led into a large room with fireplace in the centre of the wall that divided the bedroom at the rear from the main living area. Mother hung a curtain on the right which hid the sink in which we bathed, the cooker and the dining table....there were two outside privies [toilets] and coal sheds in front, for our house and the one next door.Digital image by kind permission of Sandra Clark. From the Lambeth Archives Home Front project 2005.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Do you have a date? This looks to be around 1995 I would have said. I remember FADs - there was another one in Brixton Road - now an overflow Sainsburys I think, near the Beehive. I think bollardism was a big Brixton Challenge thing - to use up the budget.
Brixton Challenge were very concerned about Brixton Market (photo extracted from AP newsreel - and another U75 thread
Puddy_Tat
santa paws, do you ever come to the ghetto?
one from this collection (think i've posted the link before but worth another mention)
flashbak.com
A Walk Around Brixton in The 1980s - Flashbak
We’re on a walking tour of 1980s Brixton in South London in the company of Peter Marshall. Gentrification has changed the faces and the shops. But many buildings remain unchanged. The photographs are black and white, and colour. They show us the stuff we remember but never thought to photograph...
flashbak.com
