Reclaim Brixton movement - meetings and April 25th protest planned

[CH1]

Sounds about right but I'm interested to hear what you think the area of Brixton was like in the 20s 30s etc. Was it gentrifide then?

One of the things that happened in the 1930s was a lot of v. large houses and gardens were cleared to make way for Effra Court, Brixton Court, Crownstone Court, Brockwell Court, Arlington Lodge and others.

This would have been a major change - decaying Victorian mansions being replaced by luxury (for the time) short term rental properties. A bit like the Lexadon of their time.

So I would say in a way there was a gentrification period between the wars - and it was largely driven by property development, just like now.

 

[mwareing1]

True. Yet here you are saying that people should be even further away from their loved ones.

It depends what you want and what quality of life you want to lead. Bringing a family up in any city is always going to be expensive. Some times y

True. Yet here you are saying that people should be even further away from their loved ones.

Does it matter in the context of this thread?

If you're that interested in Brixton history there's a dedicated thread on it.[/QUOTE
I think it matters completely in this context of thread. I'm just interested to hear the persons thoughts.... I'm interested to hear that this word we keep throwing a round 'gentrifide, gentrification' is

 

[mwareing1]

It depends what you want and what quality of life you want to lead. Bringing a family up in any city is always going to be expensive. Some times y

One of the things that happened in the 1930s was a lot of v. large houses and gardens were cleared to make way for Effra Court, Brixton Court, Crownstone Court, Brockwell Court, Arlington Lodge and others.

This would have been a major change - decaying Victorian mansions being replaced by luxury (for the time) short term rental properties. A bit like the Lexadon of their time.

So I would say in a way there was a gentrification period between the wars - and it was largely driven by property development, just like now.

So its just one big circle. The Victorians thought it had potential and now in 2015 the potential has come again. The one thing you can't change about Brixton is its position on the map. This is what is driving the wheel

 

[David Clapson]

Some dangerous stuff going on here;

Someone suggested a whip round for the owner of the trashed bicycle soundsystem - there were 2 systems and I can't tell them apart from the vids. The owner of the one which was trashed is the guy in the white t shirt and specs above. He won't mind me disclosing that. He's been at plenty of other local demos so he's probably a familiar face to many here. If anyone wants to contact him maybe a message on the noticeboard at 56A would work https://56abikespace.wordpress.com

The dancing in the vid above was illegal because it was on the A23 and the organisers had not asked permission to block it. I thought the policing was done with a light touch - blocking a major route for hours and hours has often provoked some very heavy handed use of riot police in the past. I felt bad for the giant officer who had cans chucked at his head when he asked for the soundsystem to be moved out of the road - he was very friendly and good humoured. The use of pepper spray to defend the police station seemed proportionate to me. It's a scary-looking episode but AFAICS baton use was light, nobody was arrested and the women who were sprayed in the face were happy as larry an hour or two later. We didn't see any of the G20-style police violence where shields were smashed in people's faces etc. Did anyone see any blood spilled? I didn't.

 

[mwareing1]

Does it matter in the context of this thread?

If you're that interested in Brixton history there's a dedicated thread on it.

It matters completly because i think as much as you push the fact a way Brixton was gentrifide many many years ago. This is why I find the word 'gentrification / reclaim ' so stupid because Brixton was for the affluent. It has just done a full circle.

 

[cesare]

It matters completly because i think as much as you push the fact a way Brixton was gentrifide many many years ago. This is why I find the word 'gentrification / reclaim ' so stupid because Brixton was for the affluent. It has just done a full circle.

A hundred year round circle. That's many generations.

 

[editor]

It matters completly because i think as much as you push the fact a way Brixton was gentrifide many many years ago. This is why I find the word 'gentrification / reclaim ' so stupid because Brixton was for the affluent. It has just done a full circle.

That's too simplistic to even bother with, sorry.

 

[CH1]

So its just one big circle. The Victorians thought it had potential and now in 2015 the potential has come again. The one thing you can't change about Brixton is its position on the map. This is what is driving the wheel

Not really. If you consider how multi occupied houses which had become slums were cleared in Somerleyton Road/Loughborough Park so that Moorlands Estate and Barrier Block could be built. Or the clearances to build the two Loughborough estates, or Angell Rown, or Stockwell Park.

All these previous developments were politically motivated to rehouse working people to a decent standard in low cost council housing at high density.

What we have now is market driven property speculation - hence the poorer residents are being displaced by those able to afford high rents or large mortgages. What is amazing is the scale of it.

 

[ska invita]

It matters completly because i think as much as you push the fact a way Brixton was gentrifide many many years ago. This is why I find the word 'gentrification / reclaim ' so stupid because Brixton was for the affluent. It has just done a full circle.

the power of capital to continuously rearrange communities is not a force of nature and is not one people have to take on the chin and say, oh its just a cycle, it just the way the world turns. people build communities and connections over decades and have every right to stay in them and remain living with their friends and family, continue to run their little businesses they have over years etc etc. These forces can be stopped, communities can be protected - its not inevitable.

 

[Belushi]

It matters completly because i think as much as you push the fact a way Brixton was gentrifide many many years ago. This is why I find the word 'gentrification / reclaim ' so stupid because Brixton was for the affluent. It has just done a full circle.

I don't think you really understand what gentrification is tbh.

 

[mwareing1]

That's too simplistic to even bother with, sorry.

But true! I'm sure people have been pushed out before.... It's just a vicious citcle

 

[cesare]

But true! I'm sure people have been pushed out before.... It's just a vicious citcle

That doesn't necessarily mean that people shouldn't try and break it.

 

[mwareing1]

Not really. If you consider how multi occupied houses which had become slums were cleared in Somerleyton Road/Loughborough Park so that Moorlands Estate and Barrier Block could be built. Or the clearances to build the two Loughborough estates, or Angell Rown, or Stockwell Park.

All these previous developments were politically motivated to rehouse working people to a decent standard in low cost council housing at high density.

What we have now is market driven property speculation - hence the poorer residents are being displaced by those able to afford high rents or large mortgages. What is amazing is the scale of it.

Why did they become slums? And what drove the reason for the clearance?

 

[trabuquera]

Either this bloke writing in PROSPECT magazine doesn't understand what gentrification is either, or I've lost the plot in this narrative some time ago:

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blogs/jay-elwes/brixton-regained

it's well enough written but I don't think I agree with a word it says! "gentrification doesn't cause house prices to rise, it's the other way round" - eh?

 

[mwareing1]

Go right ahead - it's a council flat and the council will be delighted to charge you with criminal damage, which carries a hefty fine. Do try to make it non-racist and non-threatening (ie nothing which encourages hate crimes) graffiti, or it'll be prioritised for removal by the maintenance crew.

 

[CH1]

Why did they become slums? And what drove the reason for the clearance?

Two reasons:
1. The houses were old - 1840s to 1870s
2. They were multi occupied and the landlords were maximising their return.

From the autobiography of Canon Charles Walker, who was a Catholic priest at Corpus Christi, Brixton Hill:

"In the late 1960s, the housing situation in Brixton was excruciating. Much of the housing stock was sub-standard; the was a chronic shortage of accommodation and lamentable over-crowding. Somerleyton Road and its adjacent streets were the horror story of the time. These streets were lined with big Victorian family houses on four floors with basement. All were in multiple occupation and in recent times many of the basements had been drinking dives. Most of the basements had been bricked up by the council by the time I got to Brixton. I estimated that one of these houses accommodated 40 souls. The landings commonly featured a cooker and piles of household impedimenta. I talked to a black lady on one of these landings during a visit to the house. She was trying to do some washing up in a bowl of water with two wide-eyed children clinging to her skirts. White and black people shared each other's poverty. I was called one night to an Irishman I knew who had died in a nearby room."

 

[mwareing1]

Some one has painted a tag on the Foxtons boarding. Let's see if what i said is true.

 

[Greebo]

mwareing1 what were you trying to say to me in post 975?

 

[Nanker Phelge]

.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

mwareing1 what were you trying to say to me in post 975?

Ignore it and it might go away

 

[editor]

Either this bloke writing in PROSPECT magazine doesn't understand what gentrification is either, or I've lost the plot in this narrative some time ago:

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blogs/jay-elwes/brixton-regained

it's well enough written but I don't think I agree with a word it says! "gentrification doesn't cause house prices to rise, it's the other way round" - eh?

I think it's a dreadful article. "Shocking outbreak of violence" my arse.

 

[editor]

Some one has painted a tag on the Foxtons boarding. Let's see if what i said is true.

What does it say?

 

[editor]

Two reasons:
1. The houses were old - 1840s to 1870s
2. They were multi occupied and the landlords were maximising their return.

From the autobiography of Canon Charles Walker, who was a Catholic priest at Corpus Christi, Brixton Hill:

"In the late 1960s, the housing situation in Brixton was excruciating. Much of the housing stock was sub-standard; the was a chronic shortage of accommodation and lamentable over-crowding. Somerleyton Road and its adjacent streets were the horror story of the time. These streets were lined with big Victorian family houses on four floors with basement. All were in multiple occupation and in recent times many of the basements had been drinking dives. Most of the basements had been bricked up by the council by the time I got to Brixton. I estimated that one of these houses accommodated 40 souls. The landings commonly featured a cooker and piles of household impedimenta. I talked to a black lady on one of these landings during a visit to the house. She was trying to do some washing up in a bowl of water with two wide-eyed children clinging to her skirts. White and black people shared each other's poverty. I was called one night to an Irishman I knew who had died in a nearby room."

Another major factor was with huge regeneration plans being touted from the 60s onwards, there was little incentive for landlords to update or maintain their properties: they were just happy to hang on and pick up a compensation cheque.

 

[CH1]

That is true - they knew they would likely get compulsorily purchased whatever they did.

 

[stethoscope]

What does it say?

I'm hoping 'Don't panic, Mr mwareing1!'.



I'll get my coat.

 

[mwareing1]

Two reasons:
1. The houses were old - 1840s to 1870s
2. They were multi occupied and the landlords were maximising their return.

From the autobiography of Canon Charles Walker, who was a Catholic priest at Corpus Christi, Brixton Hill:

"In the late 1960s, the housing situation in Brixton was excruciating. Much of the housing stock was sub-standard; the was a chronic shortage of accommodation and lamentable over-crowding. Somerleyton Road and its adjacent streets were the horror story of the time. These streets were lined with big Victorian family houses on four floors with basement. All were in multiple occupation and in recent times many of the basements had been drinking dives. Most of the basements had been bricked up by the council by the time I got to Brixton. I estimated that one of these houses accommodated 40 souls. The landings commonly featured a cooker and piles of household impedimenta. I talked to a black lady on one of these landings during a visit to the house. She was trying to do some washing up in a bowl of water with two wide-eyed children clinging to her skirts. White and black people shared each other's poverty. I was called one night to an Irishman I knew who had died in a nearby room."

Really interesting. I must read more about this. And this all came about with the influx of west indies population etc

 

[boohoo]

Two reasons:
1. The houses were old - 1840s to 1870s
2. They were multi occupied and the landlords were maximising their return.

mwareing1

Brixton/Stockwell was a speculative development at a time when house building went bonkers (the Victorian period) Grumbles about over building in Stockwell were aired in 1844 in the Builders News as much of Stockwell had fine empty houses with lots of too let signs. They were built for the reclusive middle classes to have their suburban retreats but as the railway came (and lots of poor people were displaced then) this started to affect the demographic. This was happening anyway as the rich rented (this is an important point) and so would regularly move to the next trendy point (occasionally settling for longer than a few years). As time went on, the type of people living in these 'posh' houses changed - as London in parts was over stocked with housing, builders and house owners struggled to fill some places and some houses were divided and room rented individually.

These places didn't tend to get repaired as much as they could do and this led to them being in a poor condition. Add to that the fact they completely went out of fashion (as CH1 mentioned) and the mansions style apartments were built.

History goes around in circles. The poorer people with lack of choice have always been displaced when it is convenient.

 

[mwareing1]

What does it say?

Tell me how you load an image from my libary and I'll show you

 

[ViolentPanda]

Sounds about right but I'm interested to hear what you think the area of Brixton was like in the 20s 30s etc. Was it gentrifide then?

I know what it was like - my great-gran and her family (2 adults, 6 kids) lived in 2 rooms in a "worker's terrace" on Mayall Rd in the late '20s/early '30s, with my nan working as a "maid" in one of the large houses on Water Lane. It was like most other places - prosperous enough on the main drags, but with the back streets crammed with the working class, and with some of the older (mid-Victorian) properties sub-divided and let a family to a room. Affluence in most areas with a mixed demographic was and is generally a partial thing, with pockets of wealth, larger stretches of people getting by in various states of security and insecurity, and a significant minority just about getting by, or just about failing to. Now and 85 years ago have a lot in common, including exploitative landlords. Plus ça change...

 

[pesh]

Someone suggested a whip round for the owner of the trashed bicycle soundsystem - there were 2 systems and I can't tell them apart from the vids. The owner of the one which was trashed is the guy in the white t shirt and specs above. He won't mind me disclosing that. He's been at plenty of other local demos so he's probably a familiar face to many here. If anyone wants to contact him maybe a message on the noticeboard at 56A would work https://56abikespace.wordpress.com

top guy who always plays top tunes, pretty sure he was providing the soundtrack to the Thatcher party in the square a couple of years ago… i'm definitely up for bunging him a few quid towards rebuilding it bigger and better. if someone organised a kick-starter page with the Chaka Khan video on it he'd probably get enough to build a mobile stage let alone a bike.