New Brixton 'Then and Now' pics
- Thread starter editor
- Start date
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Nice hint - just what evil cookies have you been installing on our machines, Mr Editor? I was surfing around that site only a few minutes ago to see whether contributors to the Brixton forum might be able to get you one as a belated Christmas pressie.
Sorry, but it looks to be a beyond whip-round in the Albert though - not even a combined whip round with the real ale refusenik cells in the Beehive and Trinity will cough that much to reward you for your efforts.
editor
hiraethified
The camera's been a-clicking, so here's three more, brand new 'then and nows'!
Ritzy/Brixton Theatre
Electric Pavilion/Ritzy Cinema
Atlantic Road/Brixton Road
..and one more....
Gresham Road Fire Station
Ritzy/Brixton Theatre
Electric Pavilion/Ritzy Cinema
Atlantic Road/Brixton Road
..and one more....
Gresham Road Fire Station
Try and find a third one of the Ritzy, pre-renovation. Or a little more explanation that the facade has been reconstructed would be good. You can see the plaster swags (?) on the top are not quite the same as the original.
Previous to restoration the front of the Ritzy had a sort of chopped-off, simplified sixties look.
Previous to restoration the front of the Ritzy had a sort of chopped-off, simplified sixties look.
editor
hiraethified
And now two pubs!
Prince of Wales
..and the fabulous..
Prince Albert
(hatboy: point noted and text updated re: the Ritzy facade)
Prince of Wales
..and the fabulous..
Prince Albert
(hatboy: point noted and text updated re: the Ritzy facade)
editor
hiraethified
editor
hiraethified
Two more:
Electric Avenue, 1956 showing the bomb damage to the south side of the street and another shot of the Tate Gardens, highlighting its current sorry state of affairs.
Electric Avenue, 1956 showing the bomb damage to the south side of the street and another shot of the Tate Gardens, highlighting its current sorry state of affairs.
editor
hiraethified
And here's another two! (me? Obsessive?!!)
Acre Lane (by Tescos) and a 1966 shot of Market Row arcade (by Electric Avenue)
Acre Lane (by Tescos) and a 1966 shot of Market Row arcade (by Electric Avenue)
That Acre Lane one is laughably sad really. The first looks so pretty and the second a complete dump.
Anyway, can you get on with my Barnwell Rd one? Ta.
PS The spacing of...
"Recommended reference material and
books about Brixton"
...on the Then/Now homepage is wrong, move the "and" to the next line. And you thought you were obsessive.
Anyway, can you get on with my Barnwell Rd one? Ta.
PS The spacing of...
"Recommended reference material and
books about Brixton"
...on the Then/Now homepage is wrong, move the "and" to the next line. And you thought you were obsessive.
Brixton Hatter
Home is south London mate
editor wrote
Not at all! I love all this. Thank you.
Brixton Hatter
Home is south London mate
you're in danger of turning us all into your agents of local history acquisition. I don't think I'll be able to go into the local shop now without asking them about what their facade looked like in the 60s etc......
editor
hiraethified
You should see the sad state I've become walking down the street - if I'm with people I turn into an impromptu history tour guide, "look! here's where the trams used to run..." and if I'm alone, I'm constantly looking out for evidence of old gas lamps, shop signs and buildings...Originally posted by Brixton Hatter
you're in danger of turning us all into your agents of local history acquisition. I don't think I'll be able to go into the local shop now without asking them about what their facade looked like in the 60s etc......
That's how I always am. Can't help it.
Mrs M says go to an OAP's lunch group and you'll find the name (was it Gresham Arms?) of that pub and some memories, even pictures maybe.
The Mayall Rd pic looking down past the Windsor Castle pub as was into what is now Bob Marley Way is in that book I gave you Mike, but not on Lambeth Landmark.
Mrs M says go to an OAP's lunch group and you'll find the name (was it Gresham Arms?) of that pub and some memories, even pictures maybe.
The Mayall Rd pic looking down past the Windsor Castle pub as was into what is now Bob Marley Way is in that book I gave you Mike, but not on Lambeth Landmark.
editor
hiraethified
And there's more!
Windrush Square
Central Brixton (1905)
Trinity Asylum (Acre Lane)
66-68 Atlantic Road
Windrush Square
Central Brixton (1905)
Trinity Asylum (Acre Lane)
66-68 Atlantic Road
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Henry Tate
From Windrush Square caption
Henry Tate made his money as a sugar merchant and sugar refiner. He died in 1899. It was only after his death that his company Henry Tate & Sons merged with Abram Lyle & Sons in 1921, to form Tate and Lyle. It was not until 1936/37 that this company purchased plantations in Trinidad and Jamaica.
Tate cannot be painted as a complete innocent of any taint of colonial exploitation. He made his first fortune in Liverpool, a city whose wealth had been established on slavery, and the sugar trade that provided his refineries with its raw material continued to depend on the exploitation of a colonial workforce.
However, I suggest that Henry Tate should be detached from the hatred that the company bearing his name has attracted from the British left - which may owe more to domestic politics than colonialism.
Tate and Lyle's company history
The Boys and Girls from the Whitestuff
Goodbye Mr Cube - how Tate and Lyle campaigned for the Tories
From Windrush Square caption
Henry Tate made his money as a sugar merchant and sugar refiner. He died in 1899. It was only after his death that his company Henry Tate & Sons merged with Abram Lyle & Sons in 1921, to form Tate and Lyle. It was not until 1936/37 that this company purchased plantations in Trinidad and Jamaica.
Tate cannot be painted as a complete innocent of any taint of colonial exploitation. He made his first fortune in Liverpool, a city whose wealth had been established on slavery, and the sugar trade that provided his refineries with its raw material continued to depend on the exploitation of a colonial workforce.
However, I suggest that Henry Tate should be detached from the hatred that the company bearing his name has attracted from the British left - which may owe more to domestic politics than colonialism.
Tate and Lyle's company history
The Boys and Girls from the Whitestuff
Goodbye Mr Cube - how Tate and Lyle campaigned for the Tories
I think you need a picture of "Brixton Fashion", what the coach depot became before demolition.
Also, you might want to say that many people feel the the commemoration of the Windrush era in the name “Windrush Square”, being just a name, (there's nothing else there) is an inadequate memorial to Caribbean immigration and there is a possibility that the area will be remodelled to improve this if the Raleigh Hall project goes ahead.
Also, you might want to say that many people feel the the commemoration of the Windrush era in the name “Windrush Square”, being just a name, (there's nothing else there) is an inadequate memorial to Caribbean immigration and there is a possibility that the area will be remodelled to improve this if the Raleigh Hall project goes ahead.
editor
hiraethified
Before I was struck down with the dreaded lurgy last week, I was working through a new mini-series about shopfronts on Brixton Road.
I've finally felt well enough today to finish off the 'Then and Nows' photographed to date - so take a look!
395 Brixton Road
411 Brixton Road
417 Brixton Road
506 Brixton Road
I've finally felt well enough today to finish off the 'Then and Nows' photographed to date - so take a look!
395 Brixton Road
411 Brixton Road
417 Brixton Road
506 Brixton Road
They even have the same upstairs window slightly open! (cue twilight zone music)editor said:
Editor - great photos and great captions/commentary. I hope people are paying attention since this is the kind of observation of architecture, heritage (physical history) and the urban environment that which seems to be lacking in the media at the moment (or at least in the same accessibly, funky and fresh format). I find this far more interesting than all the "prestige", "gimmicky" or "grand narrative" architectural stuff that is the norm in newspapers, on TV or in magasines.
Me too! There's something very down to earth, straighforward and non-patronising about them. You simply look at the photos and make your own mind up about whether the changes are for better or worse. It's a powerful and clever way of confronting people with architectural change and making them think about it.TeeJay said:
Mike - nice pics again. Please can you do Barnwell? Oh and please can you respond to emails about all this that I send you. I know you are busy but I still like to hear even if you disagree with stuff I suggest. Can't recall specifics now but it's all in your inbox somewhere - the review of Mango Landing and Basement Jo's for instance (that Bootylove and Fuzzy kindly wrote).
Also, although I agree with you that Brixton needs some high-quality flagship new buildings, you seem quite conservative about new building in general. 336 Brixton Rd for instance I like. Don't get too "grumpy old man." Not meanig to piss you off, but think about it.
Also, although I agree with you that Brixton needs some high-quality flagship new buildings, you seem quite conservative about new building in general. 336 Brixton Rd for instance I like. Don't get too "grumpy old man." Not meanig to piss you off, but think about it.
editor
hiraethified
Nah. Bits were flapping off it when I was taking the photo!hatboy said:
Traditional market stalls have a wooden, wheeled base to them, but these ultra-cheapo ones are made up of plastic gazebos with plastic poles and definitely deserve to be called 'shambolic' in my book - one gust of wind and they'll be half a mile down the road!
I do think 336 is a disgrace. Cheap, ugly, architecturally bland and inexcusable for an 'conversation area' IMO - look at the buildings around it - it simply doesn't fit in! It would be more at home in the Halfords/Curry business park on Effra Road where modern, characterless functionality rules the roost.
As for your list: yes, I'll get round to it sometime but I've been in bed for the past week.
336 is quite old now you know. 60s probably, no longer "modern". I think it's a bit special and not the standard thing it first appears. However, as you know at that time the idea of conserving Brixton's architectural past was pretty out-there. "Pull it all down and chuck people out of their houses whether they like it or not" was the thinking*.
I think the Stockwell Park Estate is uglier in that stretch of Brixton Road btw.
Anyway, nag, nag, where's my dinner?
*Nothing like today of course!!! (Lambeth are doing it now to St Agnes residents).
By the way I'd say the Candys fashion building is passable but not remarkable.
I think the Stockwell Park Estate is uglier in that stretch of Brixton Road btw.
Anyway, nag, nag, where's my dinner?
*Nothing like today of course!!! (Lambeth are doing it now to St Agnes residents).
By the way I'd say the Candys fashion building is passable but not remarkable.
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Candy's -395 Brixton Road
"Somehow costing a quarter of a million to build, this architecture-untroubled slab'o' concrete was somehow deemed totally suitable for the Conservation Area it inhabits"
I agree the amount of money thrown at this by Brixton Challenge to fill a gap on the shopping frontage was a disgrace. But do polish up your architectural criticism, Mike.
Unlike its predecessor - which almost certainly wasn't designed by an architect but by a skilled builder working from a standard pattern book - I'm fairly sure that this building did involve an architect, but not an especially talented one. IMO it is mediocre post-modernism.
I think the idea was to have a frontage that gave out extra light from the open first floor and which could make a bit of a display. Unfortunately, Candy fashions have never used the potential of the store.
BTW - it isn't even "a slab of concrete" - I'm fairly sure that it's a lightweight steel framed structure with rendered walls. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts without requiring a major refurbishment - in particular the roof.
"Somehow costing a quarter of a million to build, this architecture-untroubled slab'o' concrete was somehow deemed totally suitable for the Conservation Area it inhabits"
I agree the amount of money thrown at this by Brixton Challenge to fill a gap on the shopping frontage was a disgrace. But do polish up your architectural criticism, Mike.
Unlike its predecessor - which almost certainly wasn't designed by an architect but by a skilled builder working from a standard pattern book - I'm fairly sure that this building did involve an architect, but not an especially talented one. IMO it is mediocre post-modernism.
I think the idea was to have a frontage that gave out extra light from the open first floor and which could make a bit of a display. Unfortunately, Candy fashions have never used the potential of the store.
BTW - it isn't even "a slab of concrete" - I'm fairly sure that it's a lightweight steel framed structure with rendered walls. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts without requiring a major refurbishment - in particular the roof.
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