Heritage · History · Community

Summerstown182

Exploring the lives, stories, and heritage of a community in South West London — from the trenches of the Great War to the vibrant streets of today.

Latest Stories

View all →
Freddie the WW2 tortoise

Freddie the WW2 tortoise

Its been a few years since I first heard a remarkable tale about a tortoise that had ‘survived the Blitz’ and was something of a local celebrity in a quiet corner of Tooting. It took a while to track...

Read more →
476 Garratt Lane

476 Garratt Lane

Take a walk down Garratt Lane and ask anyone of a certain age if they remember ‘Barney’s’ and a warm smile of recognition is sure to flitter across their face. Whether its the memory of that first...

Read more →
Rollissons Tooting Nursery

Rollissons Tooting Nursery

There is a network of streets on Planet Tooting that produce the occasional flourish of most unusual planting, some of which would not be out of place on a tropical island or in a rain-forest. There...

Read more →
The Corruganza Boxmakers

The Corruganza Boxmakers

The Corruganza box factory in Summerstown, south west London, came onto my radar when I was doing a local First World War centenary project. Going over 1911 census records I was surprised  how many...

Read more →
Totterdown Fields Forever

Totterdown Fields Forever

Exiting Tooting Broadway tube station, the imposing bronze figure of King Edward the Seventh seems to gently usher visitors towards the delights of Upper Tooting Road. Like some over-sized regal...

Read more →

Upcoming Events

Calendar →

The Project

Where They Lived

The Summerstown182 project maps the 182 names on St Mary's Church war memorial to the streets where these men once lived. Through painstaking research using census records, parish magazines, and military archives, we've traced their footsteps across the neighbourhood.

What began as a First World War centenary project has grown into a broader celebration of local heritage — uncovering the stories of Olympic champions, jazz pioneers, daffodil kings, and the everyday people who shaped this corner of South West London.

Learn More

Roll of Honour

182 names. 182 stories. Each one a life cut short in the Great War.

Ernest Walter Abrahams Read story →
Mark Albert Archer Read story →
Francis Edward Baker Read story →
Frederick Walter Baker Read story →
William James Baker Read story →
View all 182 names →