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.
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… Continue reading
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! Continue reading
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. Continue reading
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.
Clapham Junction hotel approved!
Well blow me down – will you just look at this Clappers! It’s only the bloomin’ phoenix of an approved hotel rising from the ashes of the rejected plans from last year. Yep, this revised plan of a seventy room hotel with, from what I can tell, seven floors (it’s actually 8 – thanks Cyril!) has been approved by planners. A fantastic result for all concerned because not only does Clapham Junction receive a much needed development in a tired corner, local residents can now enjoy the service without the worry of the high sky line.
Clapham High Street Fire
If you were walking or driving through Clapham on Sunday 4th July you no doubt saw the chaos caused by a fairly severe fire opposite Clapham Common underground station on Clapham High Street. The start of the fire, in the Float Centre health clinic, is under investigation, but The Sun is reporting it may have been started by a sun bed. Thankfully no Clappers were seriously injured although a 70 year old lady was taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and the two ladies photographed had a fairly traumatic experience perched on a second floor window ledge. Well, we do like a bit of drama in Claps, don’t we? (Source: Daily Mail)
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. Continue reading
Local election results 2010
Good grief, what a palaver we’ve got ourselves into. I don’t know about you Clappers but I stayed up until 4am yesterday, glued to my screen watching the results come in. I am shattered, and I bet Gordo, Nicko and Davo are too. Well, while the Government sort things out, at least we know the result of the local borough elections. In Vauxhall Kate Hooey won for Labour. In Streatham Chukka Umunna won for Labour. In Battersea Jane Ellison won for Conservative. In Tooting Sadiq Khan won for Labour. What a bizarre week this is all turning out to be. Onwards and upwards though, it’s Eurovision in a few weeks.
Clapham Election – make sure you vote!
This Thursday residents of Clapham will be able to vote in the general election and the local Lambeth or Wandsworth Council elections (voting is open from 7am – 10pm). I was planning an impartial blog post and I’ve been struggling with it because it’s so hard to differentiate between the parties and I actually feel the existing council has done a good job. So instead, as this is a personal blog about Clapham, an area I live in, I have chosen to give a personal view in which I believe – and this post is strictly on a local level – Labour should continue to run the council for Lambeth and Clapham. If you’re not interested in my personal opinion, it’s probably best to stop reading now! Continue reading
Clapham Spring News Round-up
Like a big bad pink boyfriend, I have let you down Clapham. Love Clapham simply hasn’t been paying you enough attention recently. With spring in the air however, it’s time for me to bring out the flowers and make things better. Yes, I am going to virtually snog you with an update on the latest Clapham news. Read on dear and loyal Clappers, read on… Continue reading
The White House – 10 years old!
One of Clapham’s best known night spots and actually one of its landmarks is celebrating its 10th anniversary of business this coming weekend. To help celebrate, The White House has an extravagant line-up of top class acts turning up to kick start the party. In fact, it’s nothing short of amazing with Maxi Jazz of Faithless, Basement Jaxx and The Freemasons all taking their turn to perform and DJ on different nights from Thursday to Sunday. Go to The White House website for all of the information and to buy a three night pass for £20. Love Clapham will definitely be stopping by!
| 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. |