Author Archives: David

Five fairly luxurious new Council flats are coming to the car park behind The Crown on Lavender Hill

Back in 2019, we reported on plans to build a bundle of new Council-owned housing and flats – mostly on bits of car parking in the Gideon Road Estate just north of Lavender hill. These were quite ambitious plans, and … Continue reading

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

Clapham Common’s all-new free waterpark is open!

Just in time for the summer holidays, Clapham Common’s long awaited new waterplay facility has opened. It’s a replacement for the paddling pool that closed in 2020, and building work took a year longer than expected. But we got there … Continue reading

Posted in Clapham Common, Environment, Politics, Useful to know | 10 Comments

Factory developers, social reformers, fearless pilots, celebrated artists, tenacious campaigners and ‘dangerous subversives’: the pioneering women of Battersea’s early days.

London’s blue plaques link people of the past with the still-standing buildings they lived or worked in. It was started back in 1866 when a plaque was put up on the former house of Lord Byron – and it’s led … Continue reading

Posted in Local history | 9 Comments

A difficult problem: Are traffic lights the answer for Culvert Road’s troublesome railway tunnel?

Culvert Road leaves a lot to be desired – a long, narrow tunnel, followed by an isolated and indirect footbridge. We’ve previously written about the unexpectedly interesting history of the place. But it’s a proper traffic headache! It was designed … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Planning, Retail, Transport | 2 Comments

In pictures: Partridges stationers & art suppliers closes after 60 years

Partridges’ art and stationery supplies shop is one of Lavender Hill’s longest standing shops – if not the longest standing. They have been here for sixty years – with the current owner trading for 25 years. Generations of every kind … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Local history, Retail | 3 Comments

In pictures: Arding & Hobbs at Clapham Junction starts to emerge from the scaffolding

We’ve posted many times about the redevelopment of Clapham Junction’s flagship building, the Arding & Hobbs department store – from the first plans, to updates on the works, and the latest finds in the building as the building work progressed. … Continue reading

Posted in Arding & Hobbs, Business, Planning, Retail | 3 Comments

All change, as the old Tearoom des Artistes on Wandsworth Road is reduced to rubble.

We’ve written before in some detail about the abandoned cluster of buildings at the junction of Wandsworth Road and North Street in Clapham. Once home to the Artesian Well & Lost Society, and before that to the Cafe des Artistes, … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Food & drink, Housing, Local history, Planning | 2 Comments

It all goes wrong at Donna Margherita on Lavender Hill

We’ve written a few times about Donna Margherita, at 183 Lavender Hill – one of our longest serving Neapolitan restaurants with two decades on Lavender Hill. Donna Margherita’s owner Gabriele Vitale moved to London from Italy about 30 years ago. … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Food & drink | 2 Comments

The surprising history of a smelly alley behind some bins near Battersea Park

It’s not the most obvious spot for a landmark in the history of flight! Hidden behind a load of bins next to a Battersea petrol station, along an alleyway whose smell reveals its other role as a surreptitious urinal, is … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Local history | 3 Comments

After decades of service, Hill Launderette fades in to history

Hill Launderette is one of the longest established businesses on Lavender Hill – we don’t know when it started but it has spanned many decades. It stayed surprisigly well used, even as washing machines & tumble dryers became more widespread … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Curiosities, Local history, Retail | Leave a comment