Has Clapham’s nightlife grown stale?
Now don’t get me wrong. I love Clapham (most obviously) but recently I’ve grown a bit bored of all of the bars and clubs. As more have popped up and attempted to be trendy and fashionable, I can’t help but feel they’ve also become a bit, well, generic. Compare Clapham to Shoreditch and Soho, where you get a mix of trendy, casual and [insert style of choice] and it doesn’t stand up very well in terms of variety.
I’m not Clapham bashing I promise, you always have a good night out in good ol’Claps but it would be nice to have some cooler venues that at least tried to be quirky. It’s not just the nightlife either, Clapham, in its boom years has lost some of its quirky charm. It feels less like London and more like a small town from the Midlands. Not in itself a bad thing obviously, but the reason none of us are living in a town in the Midlands is because we want the best of both worlds.
There’s an interesting new cafe, come bar, come retro clothes shop called Sekonda (which I’ve mentioned before) under the arches by the Clapham High Street trainstation. That’s interesting, that’s unique. I’d love it if Clapham had a little bit more flair like this and fewer attempts to be generic, inoffensive venues whose sole purpose feels like it’s to make money. We all need to earn a living, but where’s the passion?
8 Responses to “Has Clapham’s nightlife grown stale?”
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| 1. | I TRAIN WITH TIM Personal Training | 1. | The queue to get in to Infernos |
| 2. | Esca sandwiches - High Street | 2. | Over crowded gyms |
| 3. | Clapham Junction Fancy Dress shop is back!! | 3. | End of summer - boo! |
| 4. | New leisure centre coming soon to the High Street | ||
| 5. | Venn Street Market |
You’re just getting old like the rest of us.. Move to Battersea like the rest of us.. Have some kids like the rest of us etc..!
That sounds fun… not!
True! Clapham’s bars have become so ersatz, but it seems that has been the case for some time and I suspect that it is a money thing, people are opening more generic bars to cater for the same kind of people. Unfortunately unlike Soho and Shoreditch clapham like the rest of SW London (Battersea, Wandsworth and Balham in particular and also Dulwich) is overwhelmingly populated by 20 and early 30 something year olds middle class Brits from the Southern Shires, who come first to court and then to breed before moving back to the shires. The very boring and generic ‘Midland-type’ bars in Clapham are meant for them i.e. the younger ones in clapham, the older ones in Battersea, Wandsworth Balham and Dulwich. If you want trendy, cosmopolitan and edgy destination fare then try Brixton, Vauxhall,Soho, Notting Hill, Hoxton or Shoreditch. Clapham and the surrounding areas with its hordes of safe ‘people-like-us’ population of bankers, accountants and solicitors does not quite have the profile to attract edgy and creative bars and clubs.
we just opened a funky new place called Red Monkey on Battersea rise. Japanese food, asian inspired cocktails and three private karaoke booths in the basement! Sorry for the shameless plug but hopefully it’s something fresh and new for the area!
Couldn’t agree more. Clapham is tired. The high street in particular is gruesome on the weekend with London-lite groups getting shit-faced outside of Croydon but not quite daring to find Zone 1. There are still some good bars in Clapham, you just need to get out of the vertical drinking areas. I couldn’t recommend having kids and moving to battersea; unless you really are bored with life.
Interesting post. Clapham I think needs a revival and some areas are starting to do that. Like you mentioned ‘Secondo’ is a breath of fresh air and is just the example of what can be added to the area to make it an arty cultural place. I myself am a live music promoter living in clapham and am looking to bring a bit more buzz and freshness to the nightlife and develop more of a music community and hopefully detract away from the commercial bars populating the streets.
I generally agree that clapham has very dull and generic bars. If you want a quirky pub however, try the Prince of Wales on the polygon, in old town. It’s quirky in the extreme, very friendly and never too busy.
I’m living in Staffordshire at the moment and I am looking for a new re-location. Would you not recommend Clapham for a (Southern) virgin, like my good self?