Category Archives: Local history

A rather unique historic house on Clapham Common is for sale (and maybe demolition)

Hidden away between the big Victorian houses along the north side of Clapham Common is something a bit different. 64 Clapham Common Northside is much smaller, much plainer. It’s tucked back between two large neighbours, to the extent you barely … Continue reading

Posted in Clapham Common, Curiosities, Housing, Local history, Planning | 4 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

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

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

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

Battersea’s Rush Hill Road: History of a south London street

Rush Hill Road is a small street leading off Lavender Hill. We’ve dug in to its past, in the latest of our local history posts. No-one knows who first named the area Rush Hill: at some point a field on … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Local history, Planning, Street by street | 8 Comments

Take a moment to appreciate the architecture of Battersea’s Reference Library

It’s a bit hidden away on a side street, and now that the main access is through an unglamorous corridor from the main lending library few people even notice it. But if you venture down Altenburg Gardens to the old … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Local history, Street by street | 2 Comments

The ‘Commercial Buildings’ ghost sign on Lavender Hill is back

We always like finding a ghost sign – those big faded advertisements in the ends of buildings that date back to before the era of poster boards and LED displays, advertising local businesses and products. There’s one at the junction … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Environment, Local history | Leave a comment

The Cedars Road Estate: A tale of two ambitious architects

Estate agents all love the Shaftesbury Estate – and it’s easy to see why, with hundreds of oh-so-desirable little cottages just waiting to be snapped up by well-heeled buyers. There’s a lot less said about our other estates like the … Continue reading

Posted in Housing, Local history, Street by street | 19 Comments