Love Clapham website is the local guide for residents and visitors of the Clapham area, London. This includes Clapham Common, Clapham North, Clapham South, Clapham Old Town, Clapham Junction and the surrounding areas of Battersea, Balham, Stockwell, Vauxhall and more.
Lady Gaga secret Clapham fan?
I’m sure I’m not the only one to have noticed this*, but if you skip 3min 25sec into Lady Gaga’s new song Monster I’m 91% sure** she’s singing “Clapham-Clapham-Clapham-Clapham-Clapham.” Conclusive proof*** that Gaga loves Clapham and has been on a night out in either Infernos or the Two Brewers.
* No one else would have noticed this
** Not at all sure
*** Not proof at all
Clapham Venn Street Market – NEEDS YOU!
This weekend saw the introduction of the Clapham Venn Street Market with locally sourced, seasonal produce piled high for Clappers to enjoy. As a local resident of Clapham, I have to say that this is probably the best thing to happen to the Clapham High Street area in years (it’s on Venn Street, outside the cinema). With a variety of hot and cold food, fresh veg, breads, cakes and even handmade Christmas decorations, it was a genuine treat, but it requires your support if you want to keep it. Continue reading
Name & Shame Junk Mail Campaign
As no one else has done anything about this, Love Clapham has created a three step pro-active plan to tackling Clapham’s junk mail problem including printing ‘NO JUNK MAIL’ stickers out of our own pocket, and they aren’t cheap! If you would like a free sticker, email in with your name and address. Otherwise we’ll be giving the stickers out for free in Clapham over the coming weeks, so follow us on twitter @loveclapham to receive alerts of where and when this will be (they look better in real life… I stuck mine on slightly wonky).
New Clapham Monthly Food & Flower Market
Simply marvellous news Clappers! Word has reached LoveClapham that we have a major new piece of amazing coming our way from the end of the month; an all new monthly food and flower market on Venn Street (behind Clapham Highstreet, by the post office depot). Yes, Love Clapham is totally over-the-moon. The first market, by Sourced Market, will be on Friday 27th – Sunday 29th November. Read on for more information. Continue reading
Clapham Christmas Market
OK! You got me, I give into Christmas! I’ve been avoiding Christmas at all costs. The IN YER FACE Christmas adverts on TV at the moment have been making me anti-Christmas – they keep filling me with the overwhelming urge to stick needles in my eyes instead of Christmas cheer. So thank heavens for the lovely little leaflet popped into my letter box this week that reminded me of what Christmas is all about: a fun ol’ get together! Tomorrow, Saturday 21st November from 2 – 4pm at St Peter’s Halls, Prescott Place off of the Highstreet is Clapham’s first Christmas Market of 2009. I love everything about the leaflet that promises “bargains galore” for the price of a mere fifty pence piece entry charge. There will be a tombola, gifts, toys, preserves, books and other goodies. Do the organisers a favour and nip in for a cup of tea and a look around.
Big Guns on Clapham Common
Every now and then something comes along that makes Love Clapham go “holy crap” and this picture is one of them, found in a book by Clapper Christopher Anderson. During World War II, Clapham Common was used for more than buff posturing joggers, it was the location of four large anti-aircraft guns (pictured above). In the picture you can also see trenches, huts and possibly soldiers doing exercises. This is so far removed from the Clapham Common of today it’s hard to comprehend what it was like. Thankfully, the BBC has a report from a lady called Jean Vines who lived in the area at the time. Jean talks about cycling across Clapham Common to get to school with a very real “danger of being hit by shrapnel from the four big guns on Clapham Common”. Fascinating!
Open Studios Art Show
As you can probably tell, Love Clapham loves a bit of artistic flair, so imagine our delight when Clapham resident artist Katy Jackson got in touch to tell us about this month’s Open Studios Art Show. The Open Studios Art Show is on from Thursday 26 – Sunday 29 November in Wimbledon and features a number of local Clapham artists, including Katy. Continue reading
Upload your photos of Clapham Fireworks 2009
If you went to the Clapham Common Fireworks yesterday, why not add some of your own photos to our gallery from the event? What a day yesterday was. If you’re following LoveClapham on Twitter you’ll know that not only were there fireworks on Clapham Common, but loads of free pasta too. Not to mention the Windmill being turned into a mini-rave and then the roads being overrun by people. Just one of the annual wonders of the area. Lambeth Council did us all proud yesterday with London’s best free fireworks display. The Mayor of Lambeth even went so far as to film the finale and upload it to YouTube.
Are you following us on Twitter yet?
Follow @loveclapham on Twitter for regular updates, tips and news about the Clapham area. On top of these blog posts, Love Clapham tweets regularly to offer you a more instant news service. If you have anything to tell us or if you want an answer to a question, feel free to tweet us and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Clapham History: Clapham North Deep Shelter
Check out this awesomeness from the Clapham North Deep Shelter. Built to house 12,000 people during the air raids of World War II, these rare photos offer a unique look into the forgotten structures. Urban Explorer UK has a stunning set of photos taken inside the shelter including a couple with models which bring these pieces of history bang up-to-date. Their size is mind boggling when you think they’re lying there beneath Clapham High Street. Kudos to Urban Explorer for securing access when they aren’t open to the public.
Hot Clapham Tip 1… Daniel and I
As the nights get colder and Love Clapham gets lazier, I’ve found myself eating out more often. This week I went back to ‘Daniel and I’ with a couple of pals for my second visit. “Where the hell is Daniel and I?” you’re thinking, and clearly very few know the answer because at the moment it always seems to be empty. At night Breads Etcetera transforms into a restaurant called Daniel and I, with a large range of home made soups and hearty main meals (although as the waiter warned, the soups are main courses in themselves!) Both times I’ve been here the service, food and atmosphere has been stellar, which makes it all the stranger that this restaurant, packed for breakfasts, hasn’t yet made its mark on the Clapper Massive. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
Clapham Businesses Failing to Adapt to Recession
Love Clapham HQ had serious concerns for Clapham’s local shops and restaurants when the economy started to collapse. The area has done fairly well, although there have been casualties. As the recession continues to bite and moves into its sixth successive quarter, I’m shocked to see that many local businesses simply aren’t applying simple tactics to survive the the slump in spending. The majority of Clapham’s restaurants are extremely overpriced, yet often half empty; some even put their prices up this year! Some shops on Clapham High Street don’t stay open past 5.30; again, not ideal when the majority of Clapham’s resident’s commute to Central London, working until gone 6pm. Here’s a tip: restaurants, cut the price of your entire menus by £1 per dish and shops change your opening hours. Then tell everyone about it! You can use LoveClapham for free to do this… I still find it amazing how few Clapham businesses get in contact to tell us about their offers. This site has thousands of visitors and we don’t charge a penny for passing on news of good offers.
| 1. | Le Petit Boulangerie, Abbeville Road | 1. | Lack of waffles on sale in cafes |
| 2. | Gastro, Venn Street | 2. | Too many Sainsbury's |
| 3. | Clapham's new Leisure Centre | 3. | Rainy weekends :o( |
| 4. | Venn Street Sat market | 4. | Rubbish shops on the High Street |
| 5. | Costa in Clapham Junction station | 5. |