A Swiss Mystery
One of the abiding mysteries of the St Mary’s Church war memorial is the addition of two names in the early thirties, R Wyler and A F Brown. 180 became 182. There is no indication in the parish...
Read more →Archive
Stories
Exploring the lives and heritage of Summerstown, from the trenches of the Great War to the vibrant streets of today.
Camberwell Beauty
So entwined are fizzy-drink making and Camberwell, that when this part of south London was heavily bombed in the Second World War, there are accounts of R. Whites lemonade being used to put out...
Read more →
Garratt Terrace
Walking through Streaham Cemetery earlier this year, Sheila and I noticed a woman quietly tending a grave that has always been of interest. Its quite a prominent spot in the central section near the...
Read more →
Inky Pinky
The 1911 census tells us that 16 year old John May was a bakery barrow boy working for a confectioners. He lived at 46 Foss Road and the premises was shared by the elderly Oliver couple and their 13...
Read more →
The New Road
With Charles Booth’s damning critique of Summerstown ringing in his ears, Reverend John Robinson’s ministery at St Mary’s Church did not get off to the best of starts, ‘A region of mists, low-lying...
Read more →
Walk The Lane
One of the highlights of the summer will surely be last Saturday’s, ‘Industry of Garratt Lane’ Guided Walk. About fifty people formed a procession from Mapleton Road to Summerstown, a massive three...
Read more →
Come Fly With Me
John Barbary came from a family whose roots were very firmly in the Battersea area, not very far away from the railway arches, somewhere that witnessed some of the fledgling activities of the...
Read more →
Tufton Street
Margaret Thatcher had just won a third election and the first brick-size mobile phones were entering yuppie hands when I first came to London in 1988 and started working for a design company in...
Read more →
Putney to Mortlake
I combined a recent visit to the extraordinary tomb of the Victorian explorer and translator of The Kama Sutra, Sir Richard Burton, with the slightly more modest final resting place of one of our...
Read more →
The French Connection
The Bishop of Kingston came to St Mary’s Church last week and I was very pleased to take him on a short Summerstown182 Walk. We went over to the Hazelhurst estate where I showed him the green plaque...
Read more →
Round the Bend
If there’s a shop on Garratt Lane that’s guaranteed to bring a smile to the face and a skip to the step, it’s the most splendid Lola and Sidney , named after a couple of rabbits. Phil is always ready...
Read more →
Land of The Gods
On Saturday we came together in Tooting and Wandsworth to honour our renowned ‘Dustman VC’ Corporal Ted Foster. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his extraordinary act of bravery at the village...
Read more →