Rock Steady Eddies Camberwell “Full English” by Ed Gray. Painted 2006.
Just a note: the cook in the painting is Sal , Eddies brother. Eddie is his time was a local champion arm wrestler.
Rock Steady Eddies Camberwell “Full English” by Ed Gray. Painted 2006.
Just a note: the cook in the painting is Sal , Eddies brother. Eddie is his time was a local champion arm wrestler.
VS Pritchett was a prolific writer with novels, short stories, biography, literary criticism and travel writing. He was born in 1900 and died in 1997. His father was in early marriage not successful in business or work and the family lived an itinerant life moving from place to place as circumstances dictated. In early 1910, the family had to leave their home in Hammersmith… as Pritchett describes it “the cab was at the door soon afterwards”.
This was reflected in the title of his autobiography A Cab at The Door, 1st published in 1968 by Chatto & Windus.
They moved to a street in Loughborough Junction, unnamed by Pritchett but which he describes as “a street off Coldharbour Lane in which the smell of vinegar from a pickle factory hung low, a street of little houses…” He goes on to say ” a yard or two from our bedroom window at the back was one of the largest machine bakeries in London, and next to it the Camberwell Roller Skating Rink.”
That street was Lilford Road. In this extract from the Ordinance Survey 1892-1914 you can see the Camberwell Roller Skating Rink having closed, its building taken over by a Printing Works and just behind the Rink and the tenements was Price & Co bakery.
Price & Co bakery first appeared in 1910 and lasted until 1969. In the 1911-12 Electoral Register, four individuals are registered on Lilford Road as owners of the Bakery in the rear. Richard Price who lived at “Rylstone” , The Grove in Camberwell, Thomas Price at 77 Bethuen Road, Stoke Newington, Cornelius Price @ Hayton House, Sanycombe Road in Kew & Edwin George Hunter at 102 Windsor Road, Forest Gate.
The Camberwell Roller Skating Rink opened in a purpose built building on April 16th 1910. It had a frontage along Coldharbour Lane eastwards from Lilford Road of 200 feet. The manager was AF Wilson. It was part of a roller skating boom that lasted from 1908 to 1913. In 1910 there were over 526 rinks in the UK.
Further reading about rinking and roller skating at this link in a blog run by Edward Creighton
http://historyandsocialaction.blogspot.com/2012/06/edwardian-roller-skating-boom-1908-1912.html
He attended a Church of England school called St Matthews , run by St Matthews church then located on Denmark Hill where the Kings College School of Dentistry is now. St Matthews being bombed out in WW11 and eventually rebuilt in Lilford Road.
An extract from the same OS map as above you can see St Matthews school on Denmark Road . The pub in bottom right was the Sun & Doves and a little further east you can see Denmark Place Baptist Church. The school was open from 1848 through to 1947 when it was demolished to build the Thorlands Estate.
He also recalled the day – 20th July 1909 – King Edward V11 came to Camberwell to lay the foundation stone for the new King’s College hospital. We have this rather dull photo from the South London Press showing the carriage on Denmark Hill.
A rather better postcard photo of the King’s carriage coming through Camberwell Gate , just before Camberwell Green on it’s way to Denmark Hill.
Pritchett talks about heading of to school one morning on the 6 May 1910 and seeing newspaper poster telling of the death of Edward V11.
In his autobiography , Pritchett writes the following
“London was dangerous. We had a girl to help my mother for a few weeks and her mind, like the mind of the one at Ealing, was brimming with crime. She took me to the Camberwell Bioscope to see a film of murder and explosions called The Anarchist’s Son, in which men with rifles in their hands crawled up a hill and shot at each other. When the shed in which one of them was living, blew up, the film turned silent, soft blood red and the lady pianist in front of the screen struck up a dramatic chord. In the Bioscope men walked about squirting the audience with a delicious scent like hair lotion that prickled our heads”
I can’t track this film down, maybe someone will know and get in touch. Luke McKernan of the no longer active but still available blog The Bioscope suggests the cinema might have been Burgoyne’s American Bioscope at 213 Rye Lane, Peckham
Pritchett also mentions that on his walk to school he would pass about a hundred yards of advertising hoardings. This photo is dated 1905 some 5 years before the Prichetts arrived on Coldharbour Lane. It is the corner of Kenbury Street and Coldharbour Lane.
Prichett mentions specifically a Pear’s Soap poster with a tramp saying ” Ten years ago I used your soap, and since then I’ve used no other”
He follows all this with memories of his mother and father quarrelling quite often, Pritchett says he remembers his mother repeating the phrase “…that woman”. He ends his memories of Camberwell with the recall of his father having gone bankrupt at their previous abode in Hammersmith , and that they were in hiding in Camberwell living under their mothers name. Then the Pritchett family were off again, elsewhere.
Joshua Armitage is a painter who painted scenes in Loughborough Junction. Here is a selection, I think from 2015/2016.
http://www.josharmitage.co.uk/
Coldharbour 1
Coldharbour 111
Flaxman Road
Eastlake Road Study
Eastlake 11
Eastlake 111
Eastlake 1V
Newly ensconsed in a large industrial unit on Milkwood Road, Brixton’s favourite brewers
Brixton Brewery. The Brixton Pale Ale is my new favourite.
https://www.brixtonbrewery.com/
On February 14th 2014, Harbour Cycles opened at 200 Coldharbour Lane, the latest in a long line of businesses occupying these premises for just over 150 years.
In early 1860’s the railways arrived at what became known as Loughborough Junction. This led to substantial development of housing and businesses in what was only a few years before, mostly farmland as this extract from Edward Stanfords Map of London dated 1862 shows.
The first business we find at 200 Coldharbour Lane was J Martin, Fishmonger & Poulterer. At that time 200 Coldharbour Lane was known as No 1 Chandos Terrace. He opened his business in 1867. The following advertisment was published in the South London Press in the 19th September 1868 issue.
A gap of a few years until in 1872 and 1873 we have records of Frederick Heyn listed at 200 Coldharbour Lane, still referred to as 1 Chandos Terrace. This advertisment is from the South London Chronicle, dated December 7th, 1872
The next date we have confirmed from local directories is dated 1883 when a Mr R Stallard is listed at 200 Coldharbour Lane as a wine merchant. He was followed by George Albert May in 1887 through 1897 with a wine & spirit merchant business.
In 1891 Casper Coomer was running a Drapery business at 196 & 198 Coldharbour Lane . Mr Casper Coomer was in trouble with the law in this news report from The Standard 19th July 1894
In 1899 he expanded through to 200 Coldharbour Lane as well. He ran this business until 1940. The following photo was taken by GN Southerden in 1936 and is to be found in Camberwell & West Norwood Tramways by Robert J Harley published by Middleton Press.
From 1907, around the corner at 200a Coldharbour Lane (entrance in Flaxman Road) Mrs Louisa Coomer ran the relocated wine & spirit merchant business succeeded by Frederick Laing Collison from 1924-1926 and by Frederick Thurlow from 1927 to 1932. In 1936 the business was renamed Loughborough Wine & Spirits.
Headquarters and General Supplies was a mail order company selling military surplus and other items from Whitcomb St, off Leicester Square. They moved to 196-200 Coldharbour Lane in 1946 and slowly grew their business over the next twenty-two years. Here are a couple of advertisments from The Whitstable Times & Herne Bay Herald 14th October 1947 and the Brechin Advertiser 14th September 1948.
This photo dated 1951 taken by John H Meredith and featured in Camberwell & West Norwood Tramways.
In 1962 they ran an advertisment in the 17th November issue with an added West End Store in High Holborn.
This photo has recently appeared featuring the Headquarters & General Supplies Fascias on the Flaxman road wall dated 1972. From Lambeth Landmark.
By 1968, they were running 8 stores.
This advertisment was the latest I could find. They seem to have completely disappeared, out of business. If anyone has any further information about Headquarters & General I would love to hear from you.
After a few years standing empty 196-200 Coldharbour Lane was taken on by Ernie Noad as a shoe shop in 1974. Haven’t been able to track down a photo of Noads at Coldharbour Lane , so here is a shop fascia from his shop in Lambeth Walk from 1946 posted onto an ancestry forum by Chloe Deeth.
I understand that Noads had a few shops around London, one is mentioned located in Northcote Road, Clapham Junction. Noads closed in 1983, and the premises reverted back to individual stores. 200 Coldharbour Lane became home to 2nd Time Around, a second hand furniture shop.
In 2002 , 2nd Time Around was succeeded by The Trading Post which was run by a man known as Yellaman.
The next photo was taken by Google Streetview in June 2008 and the one after also taken from Google Streetview is dated May 2012.
This brings us up to date and Harbour Cycles run by Brenton. A community minded business, here is a poster from 2015.
The mural on side Flaxman Road wall.
This painting by Edward Arthur Phipson was painted in 1922 and is part of the Southwark Council Art Collection
https://heritage.southwark.gov.uk
This painting is titled Last Train From Denmark Hill and was painted by Thomas Bucci. Thomas painted it I assume during a visit to London which is undated.
You can check out all his work via his website: