Tom Edwards

7 August 2017

Brixton, Clapham, Gipsy Hill, Herne HIll, Kennington, Lambeth Borough, Local History, Oval, South London, South West London, Stockwell, Streatham, Tulse Hill, Tom Edwards, Vauxhall, West Norwood

Behind The Names: London Borough of Lambeth

Tom Edwards

7 August 2017

Brixton, Clapham, Gipsy Hill, Herne HIll, Kennington, Lambeth Borough, Local History, Oval, South London, South West London, Stockwell, Streatham, Tulse Hill, Tom Edwards, Vauxhall, West Norwood

Behind The Names: London Borough of Lambeth

In the second article of this series explaining the story behind the names of areas of South London, we are going to be talking about the London Borough of Lambeth. In the last article we used the wards of Lewisham borough because they were largely relevant to the common names of the areas of the boroughs, the same cannot be said of Lambeth. In this instance we're going to be talking about the districts of the borough, and maybe one or two wards. Maybe. As was the case in the last article, we have not included any names that we could not find an explanation for.

14 Best Beer Shops in South London

Beer shops are actually quite an old thing, though it might not feel that way. Having gone through something of a lull, plenty of beer shops have been opening up all over London in recent years off the back of the surging craft beer scene. As we all know, and we as showed in our A-Z, South London is home to the best craft breweries in all of London - and the presence of these breweries has led to the opening of some fantastic beer shops. Beer shop operate in a very similar manner to wine sellers, and they are wonderful places to just browse - you know, just stand around looking at stuff you might buy. If you haven't got into the craze that is figuratively sweeping South London, we think it's about time that you did, so to help you get going here is our list of the 14 best beer shops in South London.

10 Power Stations of South London

Ask many of the older members of the South London community and they will tell you that pollution, particularly smog, used to be a fact of life in the area - and that could probably have been said for the rest of London at that time. To give you an idea of the scale, from 1933-1978 there were 9 fossil-fuel burning power stations alone operating in what constitutes as South London today, and 11 north of the river as well for most of that period - that's also not counting the large number in surrounding counties like Kent. When one looks at figures like that, it's hardly surprising that events like the Great Smog of London in 1952 occurred. All but one of those South London power stations were decommissioned during a period between 70s to the early 80s, and only some of the buildings are still standing. These structures, however, were quite stark and significant, and though not all of them were quite as massive as Battersea, they still stood out on the skyline. We're interested in telling the story of South London, and many of you will remember these power stations, while some of you might not even know that these power stations were there. So, here it is, a list of the 10 power stations of South London.

Tom Edwards

3 August 2017

Balham, Food & Drink, Local Business, South West London, Tom Edwards, Wandsworth

7 Best Meals In Balham

Tom Edwards

3 August 2017

Balham, Food & Drink, Local Business, South West London, Tom Edwards, Wandsworth

For those reading this who don't know, Balham is an area of Wandsworth Borough near the border with Lambeth Borough. Like near neighbour Streatham, Balham (both hams) has been getting better and better in recent years, and the improving gastronomic scene reflects that. We know it's difficult to make a decision on the fly when walking down a street as to where you might want to eat, so we thought that those of you who live in or near Balham might appreciate a rundown of places you might enjoy visiting. We're all about spreading the word about great places to enjoy a meal in South London and encouraging you to invest in independent businesses, so we thought it was about time we gave our list of the 7 best meals in Balham.

Tom Edwards

30 July 2017

Catford, Crystal Palace, Kennington, Lambeth Borough, South East London, South London, South West London, Sports, Tom Edwards, Summer

A Brief History of Cricket In South London

Tom Edwards

30 July 2017

Catford, Crystal Palace, Kennington, Lambeth Borough, South East London, South London, South West London, Sports, Tom Edwards, Summer

A Brief History of Cricket In South London

This week the Oval in Kennington, South London's premier cricket ground, is celebrating hosting its 100th test match when England play South Africa. It is now one of only four cricket grounds across the world to have done this. Though one would prefer for England to win the test, it will be a joyous occasion regardless of the result. To coincide with this milestone, we thought it would be suitable to provide our own brief history of cricket in South London - we should stress, it is brief.

Top 10 South London Parks

You showed us guys. You showed us right up. Here we were thinking we had you lot sussed, thinking we knew what you were like - thinking you liked a moan. The quantity of votes we received for this poll has been quite staggering, almost moving in all honesty, the amount of love people clearly feel for the parks of South London is a really great thing. Before we get started in revealing the results of the poll, we've got a few things to settle first, namely explaining as to why your favourite park wasn't included. Parks are rather personal places, and we couldn't include every park in South London - there are loads, trust us. We tried to make the spread as fair as possible, to increase the likelihood that individuals from all parts South London had visited at least a couple of these parks. We're not questioning the greatness of your local park, not for one moment, we just tried to include the parks we thought were both the most attractive and most likely to have been visited by most people from the most areas of South London. Anyway, enough of that, we've got a Top 10 to countdown, and we'll be beginning, as before, at number 10. So here it is, the Top 10 South London parks, as voted for by you.

11 Best Indian Restaurants In South London

The earliest known dedicated Indian restaurant opened in the United Kingdom was the Hindostanee Coffee House on George Street in Westminster, owned and run by one Sake Dean Mahomed, and which began trading in 1810. Though Britain apparently already had a taste for curry by this point, as shown by the fact that curried dishes were included in cookbooks published during the eighteenth century, the Hindostanee Coffee House apparently closed only a year after opening due to a lack of business - though some accounts suggest it continued trading till 1833. To put this into context, the first outlet dedicated to selling the dish now most synonymous with the UK - fish and chips - opened during the 1860s. Curry has become a staple of the British diet, and is easily one of the most popular 'takeaway' foods commonly served in the UK. Almost everyone has a favourite curry dish, and a favourite curry restaurant. We're not going to try to change that, but maybe you're thinking about trying somewhere new, and if you are, we've got you covered. To help you get your search started, here is our list of the 11 best Indian restaurants in South London.

All-Time South London XI!

We read a statistic last year that said, in 2016, 14% of English footballers in the Premier League were from South London. That got us thinking, who are the best players from South London? Then we thought, what if we were to assemble a team of the greatest players to come from the wondrous land of South London? South London being defined as any London Borough south of the River Thames. Now, for fairness, to define a player from South London, we thought we would include both players born in South London and players brought up in South London. So this means if a player was both in South London, they are from South London and if they were born away from South London, but brought up in South London, then they are also from South London. So there are players in this list who were born in South London, but brought up elsewhere, and also players born outside South London, but brought up here. We should stress that this is our XI, and you have every right to disagree with it. If you do, as is very likely, we would welcome your suggestions to players who should be included. Anyway, here it is, our all-time South London XI

13 Best Bike Shops In South London

Bicycling as a method of transport for getting round London has grown and grown - something which is only positive. While some cyclists are not as responsible as they should be, it's likely that those individuals would be just as careless behind the wheel of a car, so we should be thankful that they are only in control of a bike. South London Club are firmly behind this clean method of transport which also provides a convenient opportunity to exercise. We understand it can be aggravating as a driver if a cyclist skips a red light, but just bear in mind that if you are involved in a collision - they'll be coming off a lot worse, so maybe be a little more forgiving when in control of a machine that was directly involved in the death of 1,732 people in 2015, and in incidents which caused serious injuries to 22,137 individuals. Anyway, less about that, and more about how useful bike shops are, and how the gradual growth in the number of independent bike shops across South London reflects how many people are now using their bike to get around. We know that a good bike shop is something that many people rely on for repairs and whatnot, so we think it's a good idea to give you our list of the the 13 best bike shops in South London.

Vote For South London's Best Park!

Parks are vitally important, particularly in urban environments like London. To be able to escape the concrete and steel cage of the city, for just an hour possibly, has to be a good thing. Not that the countryside is for everyone, there are plenty of people who can't stand the slowness, the absence of activity, but to have that sort of space is very good. Below we've provided you with a shortlist of what we think are the best park in South London, and we've tried to make the spread as fair as possible. Obviously all of this is subjective, and we may have missed your favourite park out, for that we can only apologise - we did out best. We tried to make the definition as fair as possible, so if it was defined by the council that runs it as a park, we included it - which explains the presence of Blackheath in the shortlist. We've been asking you guys to vote a bit recently, and you guys have responded really well. We had a vote for South London's Best Train Station, and then we asked you to vote for South London's Worst Train Station - almost twice as many of you voted in the latter poll, than in the former, giving an indicator as to how much us South Londoners like a good moan. We won't be asking you to vote for South London's worst park though, we don't think that's anything worth celebrating at all - parks as an idea are inherently positive, and should be treated so, regardless of their current state. Anyway, we've included images of the parks below the voting form, have a look at some of those if you need to be reminded what they look like. The voting closes on Thursday 27th July, and the results will be released on Friday 28th July.

Behind The Names: London Borough of Lambeth

14 Best Beer Shops in South London

10 Power Stations of South London

7 Best Meals In Balham

A Brief History of Cricket In South London

Top 10 South London Parks

11 Best Indian Restaurants In South London

All-Time South London XI!

13 Best Bike Shops In South London

Vote For South London's Best Park!

What Is The South London Club?

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