My Fathers Place on Coldharbour Lane to become a cocktail bar

[teuchter]

what's going is the diversity that IMO drove some of that pleasurable/frightening chaos. Nowadays it's more and more young(ish) m/c white people, whilst back then the mix of class and ethnicity seemed bigger.

I agree with you completely.

Nevertheless the hustle of CHL is something that attracts certain people now, just like it did 10 years ago.

 

[TruXta]

I agree with you completely.

Nevertheless the hustle of CHL is something that attracts certain people now, just like it did 10 years ago.

People are suckers for flashing lights and loud noises. Witness Leicester Square of a weekend.

 

[editor]

In my experience the unruliness is still there, but what's going is the diversity that IMO drove some of that pleasurable/frightening chaos. Nowadays it's more and more young(ish) m/c white people, whilst back then the mix of class and ethnicity seemed bigger. I'm only going back as far as when I moved to Brixton -6, 7 years ago.

I think Jack summed it up really well in his excellent piece about the recent changes in Brixton and what shaped the Brixton of the past:

So many people all arriving at once, and all bringing with them the kind of culture that has deliberately and strongly stayed away from Brixton in the past, derided Brixton, dismissed and shunned Brixton as a place of danger and poverty and strangeness.

For many of us, one of the reasons we ended up in Brixton was exactly because we found ourselves as individuals, as the people that we are, shunned and ignored by those people who derided Brixton.

We came here, some of us, to get away from that kind of snidey judgement: outsiders, misfits, rebels, we all ended up here because here we felt comfortable.

http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2013/11/...es-new-opportunities-and-increasing-disquiet/

 

[teuchter]

People are suckers for flashing lights and loud noises.

Not editor though. He came to Brixton to pursue earnest grassroots politics. Edginess, chaos and unruly youthful behaviour had nothing to do with it.

 

[Rushy]

Not editor though. He came to Brixton to pursue earnest grassroots politics. Edginess, chaos and unruly youthful behaviour had nothing to do with it.

Although apparently his neighbourhood was edgier than most, someone reminded me.

 

[editor]

Not editor though. He came to Brixton to pursue earnest grassroots politics. Edginess, chaos and unruly youthful behaviour had nothing to do with it.

And now you're back to what you're best at: pointless, snide, disruptive personal attacks.

 

[editor]

Although apparently his neighbourhood was edgier than most, someone reminded me.

I didn't actually say that, but central Coldharbour Lane was indeed rougher than some parts of Brixton. The ever- accurate, never sensationalist Evening Standard even went as fas as describing it as "the most dangerous street in Britain."

 

[Rushy]

what a grotesque thing that is - to reveal in a neighborhoods roughness whilst never really suffering any consequences.

I don't think that a septuagenarian finding it a bit exciting and unusual to have been repeatedly offered skunk in the street is grotesque. No.
I much prefer that she felt a bit excited by the experience than threatened. That's not the same as revelling (I think that's the word you meant) and not everyone should be expected to scratch much below the surface of somewhere they only pass through.

 

[ViolentPanda]

It's true; I'm one of them.

Yes, but you don't really constitute "lots", do you?

 

[ViolentPanda]

Even my old mum would bang on....

You're not the first Urbanite to mention that.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Not editor though. He came to Brixton to pursue earnest grassroots politics. Edginess, chaos and unruly youthful behaviour had nothing to do with it.

Christ, but you're an arsehole.

 

[teuchter]

And now you're back to what you're best at: pointless, snide, disruptive personal attacks.

Well, you seem better at typing versions of the above ten times a day, than actually responding in a non-evasive way to points being made.

 

[teuchter]

Yes, but you don't really constitute "lots", do you?

You don't say.

 

[Mr Retro]

The ever- accurate, never sensationalist Evening Standard even went as fas as describing it as "the most dangerous street in Britain."

That wasn't even that long ago was it? 5 or 6 years? I remember reading the article when I was living in Brixton, silly fucking arseholes

We moved to Brixton because it was cheap and central. I admit we stayed because it was vibrant/dynamic/hip/edgy whatever the fuck words you want to use to describe the atmosphere in Brixton. And we were part of the initial gentrification for certain.

However we didn't bargain in the surprising sense of community there. I did feel I was intruding into this a bit so we were tried to contribute to this in our small ways and try to fit in and be part if it.

What I think the difference now with this new flood is people don't give a fuck about Brixton per se, they stomp into the community and take much more (or at least appear to) than they give and long term residents resent this. Fair enough isn't it?

 

[editor]

What I think the difference now with this new flood is people don't give a fuck about Brixton per se, they stomp into the community and take much more (or at least appear to) than they give and long term residents resent this. Fair enough isn't it?

I think the eviction of all the long term squatters has seriously knocked things out of kilter in central Brixton too.

 

[Agent Sparrow]

I don't think that a septuagenarian finding it a bit exciting and unusual to have been repeatedly offered skunk in the street is grotesque. No.
I much prefer that she felt a bit excited by the experience than threatened. That's not the same as revelling (I think that's the word you meant) and not everyone should be expected to scratch much below the surface of somewhere they only pass through.

Fair play to your mum for knowing what it was. When my mum was offered "skunk, weed, charlie", she didn't have a bloody clue! Whilst generally reminiscing several years afterwards I filled her in, and she was quite shocked and glad she had remained naive at the time, given she had only just got used to her daughter living there!

Despite this, I would like to point out that I also didn't move to Brixton because it was "edgy" or would upset my mum!

 

[story]

There's still regular street fights in that stretch though and bloke was nearly stabbed to death six months ago, so it might be a bit too edgy and over-vibrant for some.

Serious question though editor : I assume you don't want this kind of violence as a normal part of the local scene to continue. And if the influx of new bars and their clientele is one of the things that causes this to end, isn't it a good thing to have the changes? Nothing that has been done in the past in an effort to end this kind of violence has made much difference. If gentrification and an influx of a different demographic makes a difference, it's not all bad, right?

 

[Mr Retro]

I think the eviction of all the long term squatters has seriously knocked things out of kilter in central Brixton too.

That's since we left. I never considered it actually, good point

 

[Winot]

We moved to Brixton because it was cheap and central. I admit we stayed because it was vibrant/dynamic/hip/edgy whatever the fuck words you want to use to describe the atmosphere in Brixton. And we were part of the initial gentrification for certain.

Hey - I was gentrifying it long before you arrived matey

What I think the difference now with this new flood is people don't give a fuck about Brixton per se, they stomp into the community and take much more (or at least appear to) than they give and long term residents resent this. Fair enough isn't it?

Certainly it's fair enough if true, but (a) proof is hard to come by; (b) it's difficult to tell just by looking at a 'newcomer' if they are contributing or not; (c) it's pretty unfriendly to tar all newcomers with the same brush.

Anyway, this all been done to death many times.

 

[leanderman]

Nowadays it's more and more young(ish) m/c white people, whilst back then the mix of class and ethnicity seemed bigger.

The photo-sets occasionally posted here, and on Brixton Buzz, seem to me not to be that diverse.

 

[editor]

Certainly it's fair enough if true, but (a) proof is hard to come by; (b) it's difficult to tell just by looking at a 'newcomer' if they are contributing or not; (c) it's pretty unfriendly to tar all newcomers with the same brush.

Anyway, this all been done to death many times.

Perhaps it's because since the arrival of the nu-Village and all the various restaurants/pop ups/pricier bars etc, newcomers these days can pick and choose what bits of Brixton they want to socialise in, whereas before people tended to be thrown together a bit more?

 

[Rushy]

Fair play to your mum for knowing what it was. When my mum was offered "skunk, weed, charlie", she didn't have a bloody clue! Whilst generally reminiscing several years afterwards I filled her in, and she was quite shocked and glad she had remained naive at the time, given she had only just got used to her daughter living there!

To be fair, mine has a bit of an unfair advantage over yours in that she still works with mental illness predominantly connected to drug use (mostly weed) - so really ought to know what skunk is!

 

[T & P]

I didn't actually say that, but central Coldharbour Lane was indeed rougher than some parts of Brixton. The ever- accurate, never sensationalist Evening Standard even went as fas as describing it as "the most dangerous street in Britain."

I remember my very first visit to Brixton, almost 20 years to the day now. I'd been living in Britain for just a few months and my English was still extremely limited. A friend was going to the 414 and asked if I wanted to join them. Let's just say that the 90-second walk from Brixton tube to the 414 felt a lot longer than that

 

[Mr Retro]

Certainly it's fair enough if true, but (a) proof is hard to come by; (b) it's difficult to tell just by looking at a 'newcomer' if they are contributing or not; (c) it's pretty unfriendly to tar all newcomers with the same brush.

Anyway, this all been done to death many times.

I mean it's fair enough if long term residents are unhappy that new comers are taking more from the community than they put in. Or are perceived to be taking more, it's almost impossible to tell as you say.

As story says above it's not all bad, of course it's not, but the net effect seems to be negative and newcomers as a whole will get the blame.

 

[leanderman]

Clearly we need to vet incomers.

 

[Winot]

Perhaps it's because since the arrival of the nu-Village and all the various restaurants/pop ups/pricier bars etc, newcomers these days can pick and choose what bits of Brixton they want to socialise in, whereas before people tended to be thrown together a bit more?

Possibly - it's probably true that some places have become more homogeneous. How that ties into to the broader point about stomping into Brixton and not giving a fuck about the community is debateable. Young people (who may not even live here) have always come to Brixton to party.

 

[CH1]

Rushy could you do us all a favour and find out who OWNS My Fathers Place. Has it changed hands? Are we in fo a deluge of hippsters, slappers or what down at the respectable end of CHL?

 

[ViolentPanda]

You don't say.

I do, but fortunately for you, not every time you act like an arsehole.

Doing that would be too much like a full-time job.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Serious question though editor : I assume you don't want this kind of violence as a normal part of the local scene to continue. And if the influx of new bars and their clientele is one of the things that causes this to end, isn't it a good thing to have the changes? Nothing that has been done in the past in an effort to end this kind of violence has made much difference. If gentrification and an influx of a different demographic makes a difference, it's not all bad, right?

Mind you, "new bars and clientele" doesn't necessarily mean an end to fighting in CHL, just that it'll be a different set of drunks having fisticuffs.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Clearly we need to vet incomers.

As in "positively vet", or as in "neuter"?