Author Archives: David

An unusual new house for the Shaftesbury Estate

We regularly write about interesting and planning applications – and this one on Heathwall Street below Battersea Arts Centre certainly makes a change from the usual run of bi-fold doors and mansard loft extensions. The site is currently a row … Continue reading

Posted in Housing, Planning, Street by street | 1 Comment

New cafe: Maiella Worth, 789 Wandsworth Road

Update (8th January): Maiella Worth is now open, so we’ve added some updated photos. They’re offering a wide range of hot and cold food typical of the Abruzzo region in central Italy – including pasta they make on-site, as well … Continue reading

Posted in Food & drink, Planning, Retail | Leave a comment

A new ‘tiny house’ house for Marney Road?

We have a curious fascination for tiny houses, fitted on to implausibly small scraps of spare land – and proposals crop up regularly in planning. We’ve previously covered tiny house plans on Sugden Road, and at what later became a … Continue reading

Posted in Housing, Planning, Street by street | 2 Comments

A cluster of new office developments is coming soon to Queenstown Road

The middle section of Queenstown Road is changing! Until now it’s been a light industrial cluster, but the explosion of development that has taken place around the power station, the arrival of a shiny new Zone 1 tube station, and … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Local history, Planning, Street by street | 2 Comments

In Pictures: Ashley Crescent at dusk

Dusk falls over the quiet green space between the flats on Ashley Crescent, with a glimpse of the brighter lights of Lavender Hill in the background. One of many estates of similar design, the architect of Ashley Crescent was L. … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Housing, Street by street | Leave a comment

Farewell to The Corner Stone bookshop on Lavender Hill

The Corner Stone, a very recognisable shop on Lavender Hill which became of the street’s longest running businesses, has called it a day. The shop opened at some point between the late 1980s and early 1990s, and sold a wide … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Curiosities, Retail | 1 Comment

Has anyone forgotten a boat on Queenstown Road?

The prize for ‘abandoned vehicle of the year’ goes to… a boat that has mysteriously been abandoned on Queenstown Road! It’s all a bit of a mystery – it’s in reasonably good condition, it seems watertight, and it has even … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Street by street | 1 Comment

In pictures: Lavender Hill’s fading mural still has plenty of charm

London is perfect territory for murals. Wartime destruction, postwar estate development, and the occasional over-ambitious road project all conspired to leave a lot of Victorian terraces sliced in two, with large messy-looking blank walls – occasionally with the odd chimney … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Environment, Local history, Street by street, Useful to know | 1 Comment

Lavender Hill’s mystery weathervane

Perched on the turret roof of what’s now Dexter’s estate agents at the junction of Lavender Hill and Latchmere Road is a little-noticed weathervane. Once widespread and fashionable, and still quite a feature in the City of London where gilded … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Local history, Street by street | 1 Comment

A chance Google Street View encounter in Clapham

On a sunny day back in May, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall visited Charles’ namesake the Prince of Wales pub in Clapham Old Town, pouring himself a pint of very locally brewed Sambrooks’ Wandle bitter. This was a … Continue reading

Posted in Street by street | Leave a comment