Aussie Aussie Aussie!!
You thought the party season was over? Wrong! Clapham Aussies are about to show us how they live it up southern hemisphere style! January 26th is Australia Day and if you’re looking for a place to celebrate check out LoveClapham’s top 4 Aussie party venues!
Why not kick it off early on Sunday 23rd with The Church at the Clapham Grand where the Australia Day party is ALWAYS a sell out with beers, prizes and fancy dress! Or head over to Infernos on Clapham High Street where the party will already be jumping at 10am with free drink on arrival, Jumbuck’s pies and awesome DJs to see you through to midnight! On the 26th Bison & Bird at the top of the High Street will be offering live music, Aussie burgers and £2 bottles of VB beer. And finally Gigalum, close to Clapham South tube will be playing host to all those wanting to carry on the Aussie party in to the small hours of Monday morning – start preparing your excuses for work now!
The Queensland area of Australia has been devastated by floods over the past few weeks and some 25,000 homes are either partially or totally flooded. 30 suburbs have been hit and people will be under water for days to come. This crisis is far from over and if you want to read more about what action is being taken and donate, click here http://www.redcross.org.au
Love Books Clapham?
Calling all Clapham book lovers! Want to give away 48 copies of one of your favorite books to your friends and family for FREE? Then you have just over a week to sign up to World Book Night!
On the 5th March 20,000 people from across the UK will be chosen to donate the books however they choose. When you sign up you will be asked which title you want to give away and why – there are 25 exciting titles to pick from including One Day, Life of Pi, Northern Lights and The Blind Assassin to mention just a few.
The lucky givers will be notified by the start of February and a box of books will be delivered to them by March 5th. Visit the site for more information and to sign up. Let us know if you are selected and who you decide to give them to! www.worldbooknight.com
Sainsbury’s on Abbeville Road controversy
If you live in the Clapham South / Abbeville Road area you may have heard that Sainsbury’s would like to open a new local store on Abbeville Road itself amongst the local shops. It will go in the large retail space that used to be Dexters restaurant (where you could amazingly buy a full English breakfast with the works, tea, coffee and a fruit just for about £8 – no wonder it went under!) This development is proving to be fairly controversial, dividing residents right down the middle. Some want to keep the road local shops only, while others welcome the idea of an affordable local supermarket. No doubt the supermarket will get its way regardless – but what do you think? Interestingly, the even more controversial betting shop that opened on Abbeville Road has now closed, after only a couple of years of poor trade.
Let’s hope you have a sense of humour
Bored Clappers. WE HAVE BEEN BORED. With a lack of things to do in the evening in Clapham, us Clappers have had to turn to either binge drinking, paying extortionate prices for meals or jogging around the common. All of which sound good in principle but leave you with an empty, soul destroying feeling afterwards in their own unique ways. So it’s with a massive sigh of relief and a cheer that Love Clapham can announce that The Funny Side… of Clapham Common comedy nights are now every blinkin’ Thursday at the Alexandra on Clapham Common south side (by the bus stops!) Check it out, it’s a bargainous £12.50 and you can still binge drink, eat and perhaps jog home. Wonderful.
Clapham History: past local disasters
Love Clapham has received an email from the disasters historian, John Withington, who has a book out called London Disasters. In the book is a piece on Clapham disasters which is an interesting, if tragic read. In the book John explains how at the Arding & Hobbs store in Clapham Junction (now Debenhams) in the run-up to Christmas in 1909, a fairy light bulb exploded in the window and set fire to tinsel and cotton wool decorations. Read the rest of this entry »
Clapham to City on the Cycle Superhighway
Please donate just £2.50 (or what you can afford) to the charity Amy is volunteering for: Raleigh International. Your donation will build schools, protect endangered Elephants and support poor rural communities in India.
Join the Clapham Community!
Love Clapham has just launched a new, better, easier to use online community to help our mission of bringing everyone in Clapham together using this site. Whether you just want to see who’s in the area or voice a concern about Clapham issues, please join to talk and meet other people in your area. We have a new community events section and an improved directory on the way soon as part of the community. Together we are better connected, better informed and a stronger voice.
Clapham Common Festivals 2010
It’s that time of year again when we all head to Clapham Common, strip off most (in some cases all) of our clothes and burn our skin to the sound of amazing music from some of the world’s best artists with an alcoholic bevvy in hand. Yup, it’s time for Clapham Common Festival season – just another typical summer eh? There’s tonnes going on and here’s a brief run through of what’s been, gone and coming up… Read the rest of this entry »
Northcote Road Hit and Run
Tragic news Clappers. Fellow Clapham citizen @stuartleewhite stumbled upon the traumatic scene above where this little blighter – who we shall call Classie (do you get it? do you get it?!) – after being mown down on Northcote Road near Clapham Junction this week. A tear doth run down my cheek for poor Classie died of a severe case of stuffing being knocked out of her. Paramedics did arrive according to Stuart, but they were too late. If you were a witness, please write in ASAP to help the local police solve this pawful crime.
Clapham Cycle Superhighway
Love Clapham is prone to the odd over-the-top superlative here and there (obviously!) but believe it or not, that is the actual name of those new blue streaks down Clapham High Street. Yes ladies and gentlemen, thanks to the heads up from Clapper @XanderBrown, say hello to Clapham’s section of the Cycle Superhighway! Read the rest of this entry »
Two cult novels by local author
Exciting news! Local author Helen Smith, who lives on the border of Brixton and Clapham, has just had her two novels based in the area republished ten years after their original release. The first, Alison Wonderland, is about a woman who joins an all-female detective agency in Brixton – it includes a scene on Clapham Common and another in Battersea Park . The second, Being Light, is about a man who flies away on a freak gust of wind while setting up a bouncy castle in Brockwell Park. Love Clapham has managed to get our grubby paws on two signed copies of the books to give away to two Clappers. If you’d like to win them, email in the answer to this question: what other famous female author spent some time living in Clapham? Winner to be announced on Friday 16th July. Learn more about the two books below. Read the rest of this entry »
Clapham Junction Station revamp scaled back
As you may have heard by now, Network Rail has had to cancel a number of major UK station redevelopments after having its £100 million budget reduced in the new Government’s budget cuts. The busiest station in Europe, our very own Clapham Junction, was the first and possibly most high profile of the station improvement works to face the chop. So, the severely run down station will stay that way for a long time to come. Given how bad it is already, Love Clapham dreads to think how it will look over the coming years and that’s not even taking into account safety – some of those platforms are incredibly uneven and dangerous. The London Evening Standard has more details of some works that will still take place, but still, it’s a blow given how many people use this station every single day.
| 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 |