General Brixton history - photos, stories etc
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felonius monk
Well-Known Member
This is mis-labelled. Acre Lane only goes up to 216 (as it did in Kelly's Directory of 1919) before it becomes Clapham Park Road. It should be 336 Clapham Road- I found it in 1930 in a local paper. Bit of trivia: In 1929 the comedian Will Hay ran over a retired police inspector outside Lawrences' Garage. The ex-police man appeared from behind a tram trying to cross the road without looking.
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CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Don't forget Bon Marche's cameo appearance in this very popular early c20 novel
PS: what intrigues me is what is going on in the foreground of your picture. Where the LT underground station and Iceland Frozen Food now are. Looks like stuff set out for sale - but what? The pic is not high resolution so magnification might not help. There is another picture floating around showing detail in the foreground/Rush Common area further south near the Prince of Wales and Barclays Bank. There was a reptile house I believe. Must try and find that one.
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editor
hiraethified
I did an in-depth article on that postcard view a few years back:
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
editor
hiraethified
This photo was taken in 1932
And this was around 1900
More views - Brixton history: Rance’s And Savoy Turkish Baths at 461 Brixton Road
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
"Merrycar Amusement Park" sounds interesting. Only reference I could find was this in Lambeth Archives which it says is 'c, 1932' but clearly not the same bit of 1932 as the photo with the McNish advert.
It also suggests that the 'street trading' was on frontages that were part of the shops' land not public highway, in this case part of the ironmonger's stock (maybe once had been front gardens before they became retail premises?)
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Here;s one from Lambeth Landmark of Reliance Arcade "c 1932"
Clearly the Reliance Arcade existed in a much shorter form before Woolworths was built.
Also front of Parry's Reptilian Wonder
The more you look at it you wonder how people managed without Town Planning committee! Brixton Road was a hybrid of Blackpool side-shows and coal-related hardware shops by the look of it. It would be interesting to see if there are photos of this part of Brixton Road pre say 1880, before the high density terraced housing which covers Brixton was built.
Clearly the Reliance Arcade existed in a much shorter form before Woolworths was built.
Also front of Parry's Reptilian Wonder
The more you look at it you wonder how people managed without Town Planning committee! Brixton Road was a hybrid of Blackpool side-shows and coal-related hardware shops by the look of it. It would be interesting to see if there are photos of this part of Brixton Road pre say 1880, before the high density terraced housing which covers Brixton was built.
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friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
There's that 78 tram againThis photo was taken in 1932
And this was around 1900
?- Stockwell - Brixton -? What was the route bet you know Puddy_Tat
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
78? Victoria - Vauxhall - Stockwell - Brixton - Herne Hill - West Norwood
Have we had this one?
(Corner of Dalberg Road / Brixton Water Lane)
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
And looking up the 'Royal Oak' pub on the corner of Dalberg Road / Effra Parade, got this
from the 'closed pubs' website
1950-ish OS map showing tram tracks and pub marked as 'ruin' (following bomb damage)
from the 'closed pubs' website
1950-ish OS map showing tram tracks and pub marked as 'ruin' (following bomb damage)
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CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Lambeth Environmental Services video from 1982/4
Part 1 - Mayall Road enveloping scheme (doing up the outside of the houses, enabling resident/tenants to stay in improved property)
Part 2 - Thames TV short about the work of a Lambeth Environmental Health officer (one of 200!)
Makes one pine for socialist realism!
www.londonsscreenarchives.org.uk
Part 1 - Mayall Road enveloping scheme (doing up the outside of the houses, enabling resident/tenants to stay in improved property)
Part 2 - Thames TV short about the work of a Lambeth Environmental Health officer (one of 200!)
Makes one pine for socialist realism!
Mayall Road Envelope Scheme
www.londonsscreenarchives.org.uk
RoyReed
Must fly!
I'm sure you're right. The sliver of white building on the extreme right edge of the photo looks like the south corner of Glenshaw Mansions with the octagonal turret roof on the corner of Mowll Street. I used to live directly opposite back in the 1970s..
editor
hiraethified
From Peter Marshall's fabulous collection
'Pegy’s Cafe, 75, Atlantic Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1987'
flashbak.com
'Pegy’s Cafe, 75, Atlantic Rd, Brixton, Lambeth, 1987'
22 More London Cafes In The 1980s - Flashbak
In the second album of photographer Peter Marshall’s pictures of cafes in London between 1980 and 1990, we’re off to Mo’s, Maggie’s, Ivy’s and Pegy’s. These cafes and more were in business before chains of coffee shops cropped up on pretty much every high street offering a vast array of styles...
flashbak.com
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
This Lambeth Landmark picture intrigued me. 6 valves, 3 tuned circuits - but no mention of superheterodyne ("superhet"). And 25 cycles 10/- extra?
Seems to be evidence that not everyone in Brixton (or London) was on the same 50 cycle grid in 1931. I guess our local vintage wireless and television museum in Rosendale Road might know more: British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum
Seems to be evidence that not everyone in Brixton (or London) was on the same 50 cycle grid in 1931. I guess our local vintage wireless and television museum in Rosendale Road might know more: British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum
Torpid Scorpion
Basket case
Standardization on 50hz only began in 1926 and wasnt really done until after the war. The transformers for lower frequencies were much larger, hence the extra charge (marketing might dictate a lower headline price and an extra charge, regardless of what the actual market share of frequencies might have been at the time!)
Source: History Of Power Frequency
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
yes - different power suppliers (mix of councils and commercial undertakings) didn't all have the same standard, which must have made electrical retailing complicated, particularly where the catchment area of the big retail centres overlaps a bit.
i found this site which has a PDF or two which go in to some detail on the london patch.
And there's a map of London's electricity supply areas from a 1912 london street atlas on Flickr west london / east london
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
This then explains how LEB came to have a massive site adjacent to the railway line at Bengeworth Road SE5:
"The County company erected a vast new station at Barking, allowing the other companies to draw from this supply. The existing stations largely remained open but Bengeworth Road closed in 1928 as not suitable for modernization."
Conveniently this Bengeworth Road site, next to Kings College Hospital, is now part of the London Power Tunnels project
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Yes there was once a quite substantial power station at Bengeworth Rd, initially supplied pretty much all of Lambeth as far as I understand. I guess this is where the power for electric avenue originally came from?
en.m.wikipedia.org
South London Electric Supply Corporation - Wikipedia
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Intriguing detail on right- the office of Euphorion Books - Sir Oswald and Lady Diana Mosley's postwar publishing house
