Clapham has been without a swimming pool for over a year but the new leisure centre (which looks something like the above drawing) is open. And dagnamit, it’s only got a swimming pool with a moving floor to change its depth! This probably entitles Clappers to say we have a ‘state of the art’ leisure centre. It also has a large gym area and a sports hall above it. Fabulous. For those of you going “whaaa? A new leisure centre? In Clapham?” you can find it on Clapham Manor Street next to the equally healthy KFC. Have you been yet, what do you think? Tell everyone below…

Of course, the most familiar image to us all is now the gutted Party Superstore – which Love Clapham has frequented for many a fancy dress party – ablaze.

Other shops were smashed, looted and destroyed in a disgusting abuse of our local area. Clapham High Street was largely unaffected, although Blockbuster near Clapham North has had its windows smashed, and property destroyed and stolen. Love Clapham witnessed a gang of 20 or so hooded youths lurking behind KFC at around 11pm – they may have been entirely innocent, but last night was not the night to be hanging around in gangs.

Riot police eventually turn up en masse captured in this resident’s video:

No one involved had any intentions of delivering a political of social message, they just wanted to enjoy themselves by destroying people’s livelihoods. It was disturbing to watch on television, and terrifying for some of our residents stuck in the thick of the violence. Personally, the worst image for me was that of the young girls in the attack laughing at their friends tearing a TV off the wall in Ladbrokes. Such a depressingly pathetic display of ignorance and stupidity.

But the local community has come together in a tear jerking response as residents supported those affected today with broom in hand to clean up. Something to be proud of. Take care Clappers.

Read more on the following websites:

• Clapham Junction riots: A timeline of the violence and looting, images, write up and videos [Metro]
• Clapham Junction riots in pictures [BBC]
• London riots: Clapham broom picture goes viral as Londoners defy looters [Metro]
• Boris Johnson being heckled in Clapham Junction [Guardian]
• Clapham Junction write up [Telegraph]
• Boris Johnson criticised on Clapham Junction visit [Mirror]
• Clapham riot clean-up brings 400 volunteers [BBC]

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.

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.

The fire engines were on the scene within four minutes, and eventually 30 fought the fire, but they could not prevent nine people being killed, and the store being completely destroyed. The heat was so intense it was said to have cooked the turkeys in a poulterer’s across the road, but Arding and Hobbs managed to get itself re-built and open again for the following Christmas.

John – one of Britain’s leading disaster historians – also tells how nearly 80 years later on a bright, sunny December morning, a train driver in a cutting approaching Clapham Junction saw the green light in front of him turn to red as he was almost upon it.    This was something that was supposed to be impossible under the automatic signalling system in use on the line.    When he stopped his train to call the signal box, another ploughed into it, and a third coming the other way hit wreckage thrown into its path.

A fourth train managed to stop short of the disaster.  If it had failed, the potential consequences “do not bear contemplating” according to the official inquiry.  As it was, 35 people were killed and 69 seriously injured in London’s worst rail crash of the last 35 years.   It transpired that the whole disaster had occurred because an overworked technician had connected up a signal wrongly.

More information on the Clapham rail disaster can be found on the BBC, Wikipedia and of course in John’s book, London Disasters.

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.

Alison Wonderland by Helen Smith
[ISBN:978-0956517005]

When Alison joins Mrs Fitzgerald’s Bureau of Investigation as a private detective, her new job takes her on a series of loosely linked adventures involving an abandoned baby, a transgenic animal and secret tunnels under The Thames. She travels from London to the seaside town of Weymouth and back again with her new best friend Taron, a girl with a hundred candle smile. But someone is betraying her. Is it Taron? Is it Jeff, the sweet-natured inventor who writes her poetry? Or are there darker forces at play?

Reviews:

• Only occasionally does a piece of fiction leap out and demand immediate cult status. Alison Wonderland is one. The Times
• Made me sigh and throw it to the floor in a fit of envious pique. Julie Burchill, Guardian
• A fantastical Thelma and Louise meets Agatha Christie adventure story. The dialogue is smart and the deadpan humour is perfectly judged. The List

Being Light by Helen Smith
[ISBN: 978-0956517036]

Roy Travers is swept away by a freak gust of wind while trying to install a bouncy castle in Brockwell Park , south London . Sheila, his wife, can’t understand why he hasn’t found his way back home. She begins to suspect that Roy has been abducted by aliens and enlists the help of Mrs Fitzgerald’s Bureau of Investigation to find him. Sheila travels to Kent with Alison, a private detective. Together they build a missing persons advertisement out of pebbles on a beach, hoping it will be seen by the aliens who have taken Roy . But Roy was not taken by aliens. The truth is far stranger.

Reviews:

• Smith has a keen eye for material details, but her prose is lucid and uncluttered by heavy description. Imagine a satire on Cool Britannia made by the Coen Brothers… very funny. Times Literary Supplement
• This is a novel in which the ordinary and the unusual are constantly juxtaposed in various idiosyncratic characters… Its airy quirkiness is a delight. The Times
• A screwball comedy that really works. The Independent

Author Biography

Helen Smith writes novels, poetry, plays and screenplays. She travelled the world when her daughter was small, doing all sorts of strange jobs to support them both – from cleaning motels to working as a magician’s assistant – before returning to live in London where she wrote her first novel, Alison Wonderland. She’s a long-term supporter of the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture and mentors members of an exiled writers group to help them tell their stories. Visit her blog.

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.

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.

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)

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…

First, the good news – it’s not bloody winter any more! If you’re anything like Love Clapham you will have noticed the plants are growing, the psychotic squirrels are chasing birds around our gardens again and this giant ball of burning flame has appeared in the sky which you may – quite rightly – have forgotten is called The Sun. With the re-emergence of The Sun, Clapham seems to have sprung into life and activity.

Clapham is a buzz with local events at the moment with Venn Street Market now a regular on any discerning Clapper’s social schedule. There is also a Jazz Brunch (only in Clapham, eh Clappers?), an Easter Craft Fair and Street Hip Hop Dance Classes to keep you busy in the coming weeks.

There seems to have been some local shop activity too. Over on Love Clapham’s side of town, Clapham North (aka the best part of Clapham), a new clothes shop and hairdressers have opened under the recently renovated arches. Get this: they are both coffee shops too. Yes, a coffee shop in a clothes shop and a hairdresser. Proving that in Clapham we actually DO do things by halves, we just do two things by halves and stick them together.

Of course, with all that fun comes a serious side… WAIT right where you are. Serious is good too. Elections are looming and the local parties are becoming as hyper as the local squirrels, dropping off leaflets and trying to explain why Labour, the Conservatives or the Lib Dems are the best for our community. Labour have looked after Lambeth for some time now and have done an excellent job. Whether you want things to stay that way or you want to try something different is obviously your decision – we’d welcome your opinion though.

The only leisure you'll be getting out of this Leisure Centre for the time being is destruction

Which leads nicely onto the bad news, if bad news can ever be introduced nicely. Clapham no longer has a swimming pool, the leisure centre is in the process of being demolished (photos here), as is the massive old grey tower block on Clapham High Street. Also, we received an email from London Underground last week informing us the Northern Line is going to be closed early on some evenings in the week and over 1 in 3 weekends for the next 18 months or so. Ouch. Wasn’t it only a couple of years ago we went through this?

On the mega plus side, the reason for the pool / leisure centre smash up is because it will eventually be replaced by a spanking new leisure centre. Although we will have to wait until the end of 2011 for it to open. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so Love Clapham can deal with this time period (although some of our Twitter followers don’t want to).

The only other bad news from Love Clapham’s perspective is that Clapham High Street’s water pipe replacement by Thames Water is still on going, and that started at least 18 months ago. It’s been a right royal pain in the Clapham ass the entire time too.

Oh, and junk mail from local businesses is still an issue.

However, and it’s a big however, it looks like Clapham is continuing to be on the up. All of these improvements will result in eventual rewards to be reaped by Clapham residents. So, all will hopefully be well that ends well. Stay tooned Clappers, Love Clapham won’t be as lazy with the updates in future and I may even right them properly instead of the annoying way in which I’ve written this story.

(Thanks to @ishra for the photos!)

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!

If you’ve been following @loveclapham on Twitter you’ll know how annoyed I’m getting with the Wandsworth Guardian. I have a No Junk Mail sticker on my letter box, yet despite this and repeated requests to the newspaper to stop they are still ignoring my sticker and shoving their paper through my door. What’s worse is that it’s a Wandsworth borough newspaper and I couldn’t be further into the Lambeth end of Clapham if I tried. Since moving to Clapham North I’ve received one of these newspapers a week amounting to over 60 papers that have gone straight in the recycling bin. While some people may read it, I’d imagine others don’t want it. The same of all papers forced on people in this way. It’s a waste of money for the companies advertising in it and bad for the environment.

If I want to read their news I will visit their website or pick up a copy from a shop that distributes it. I do not want publications or any junk mail I haven’t asked for forced into my property. It’s an abuse of my home.

I want to support local businesses and I want to see the Wandsworth Guardian continue to grow, but it has to respect the wishes of the people it’s trying to represent. I don’t mind advertising in magazines and newspapers I choose to pick up, but I do if it’s supporting a newspaper conducting bad practice.

My recommendations for these newspapers are simple:

1. Immediately tell your distributors to stop posting these unwanted papers through letterboxes with ‘No Junk Mail’ stickers
2. Consider a better model where you offer your paper in shops instead of forcing it on people. You may have a smaller distribution but at least advertisers will know every one sold is being read rather than thrown away. Also, you won’t be damaging the environmant.
3. Focus more on your websites, they are far more important (ask me for help! I know a thing or two about building online businesses!)

Lambeth’s larger than life Mayor, Christopher Wellbelove, will be celebrating the year’s Mayoralty at the Holy Trinity Church on Clapham Common on Sunday 14th February at 2.50 – 4.00pm. It is open to all and followed by refreshments. Not only will this give you the chance to see this magnificent and historic building, it’s also an opportunity to raise money for the local charities Trinity Hospice, Clapham Youth Centre and Lambeth Womens Aid. Importantly, it’s also a chance to celebrate our Mayor – from Clapham! – who’s played a massive role in our community this year. Hopefully you can all make it.

Everyone loved Venn Street Market when it rolled into Clapham town at the end of last year, although few people knew about it. Luckily, the market has committed to return on a regular basis this year and Love Clapham is bloomin’ over the moon! Nice hot sandwiches, burgers, churros and more for Saturday and Sunday lunch The dates are below.

Venn Street Market takes place over three days – Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on the last weekend of every month. Fridays and Saturdays are FOOD market days and Sundays are FLOWER market days with FOOD.

Market dates for 2010:

• Friday 29 – Sunday 31 January
• Friday 26 – Sunday 28 February
• Friday 26 – Sunday 28 March
• Friday 23 – Sunday 25 April
• Friday 28 – Sunday 30 May
• Friday 25 – Sunday 27 June
• Friday 23 – Sunday 25 July
• Friday 27 – Sunday 29 August
• Friday 24 – Sunday 26 September
• Friday 29 – Sunday 31 October
• Friday 26 – Sunday 28 November
• Christmas Market to be confirmed

The future face of the Clapham High Street area, named Clapham One, is finally taking shape after a long delay caused by funding problems during the recession. But, it’s a new year and Lambeth Council has now secured the construction of a new library, mini shopping centre and housing unit on the High Street and an entirely new, renovated leisure centre to replace the (now closed) existing one. The scheme is exciting, but has been met with some criticism. We asked our Clapper followers on Twitter what they thought.

Delays to the project, while understandable given the economic downturn, have caused concern among local Clappers with @Jason_Cobb saying “My concerns are that Future Clap’ham will continue to run behind schedule. Already 2 years late.” Indeed, with no leisure centre in the heart of Clapham until the new building is complete in 18 months or so, Clappers are being advised to hop on a bus to nearby Brixton for their fitness needs.

Us Clappers certainly know a thing or two about aesthetics and the importance of making a good visual impression, so it’s unsurprising that the most controversial topic is the look of the two buildings. About the main tower block building @edwardclarke says “I like the design! Big improvement on the very dull building that’s there now,” while @alliekeith says “I don’t like the suggested apartments on the high st – looks like a cartoon.” The fact that the designs are just diagrams at the moment probably doesn’t help, but Love Clapham can see her point; it does have a touch of the Flint Stones about it. Nevertheless, Love Clapham loves the main High Street block and it will certainly add to the unusual character of the street started by our spaceship styled Sainsburys!

The new Leisure Centre however is the biggest sore spot for most Clappers. Last April we reported a drive by residents in the area to object against the plans for more social housing on the site with only a few car parking spaces to cope. Also, Clappers weren’t particularly happy about the proposed ‘modern’ look of the building described then on a leaflet as “a big white monstrosity.”

Indeed, opinion doesn’t seem to have changed on this one, “new Clapham Leisure Centre looks like a multistorey car park mated with a supermarket. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts,” says @filmish. It doesn’t stop there with @bigsquiddiving likening it to “a storage unit rather than a leisure centre!” and @edwardclarke asking “Maybe should have preserved Victorian facade on modern rebuild?”

Here at Love Clapham HQ, we have to agree that we’d have preferred the leisure centre to have remained in keeping, at least on the outside, with the residential street it sits on. Having said that, with all progress comes change and there’s no denying that this huge investment in Clapham is nothing but a good thing. The Leisure Centre may look like a big greenhouse, but the facilities are going to be state-of-the-art and useful, while the High Street development is something everyone in Clapham should be proud of. Clapham High Street is desperately in need of investment and something to really put it on the map, this building will undoubtedly do that.

So, thanks to everyone involved for getting this huge project off the ground at last and here’s to hoping more delays don’t happen. To find out more Love Clapham will be interviewing people at the helm of the project soon – stay tuned!

What do you think of Clapham One? Tell us below and visit the Clapham One website for pictures and more information.

Mary Seacole House’s number seems to be up. It’s the old Council building on Clapham High Street, and to be honest, the dated building was doomed the day the plans for the new Clapham library and shopping complex were approved to be built on the site. Lambeth Council leader Steve Reed expressed his desire to see the building removed as soon as possible last year, and with scaffolding being erected his wish looks set to come true! Love Clapham can’t wait. If you love pictures of scaffolding, see below (I promise these pics will get more exciting as the thing is torn down!)

What a poor snowing we’ve had in Clapham. Promised 40cm we’ve woken to a maximum of 2cm and pavements covered in ice. On my way to work I thought we’d been overrun by zombies as people shuffled toward the tube station. I for one feel short changed… It does look pretty though, so please keep uploading your snow pics to our Clapham Network. I should take this opportunity to wish each and every Clapper a very happy New Year! 2009 was a fantastic start for Love Clapham and I’m so grateful for the support I’ve received. I’ve found it great fun keeping everyone informed of local issues and this year I plan to keep going with local news and info plus to start getting slightly political in the run up to the local elections to help all of us make the right decisions (usually I’ve got no idea who I should be voting for!) If there’s anything you think Love Clapham should be doing more of in 2010, please let me know

MilkInIt has been voted top mince pie retailer near Clapham Common in a taste test by local students. Four students tried mince pies from six food retailers in Clapham, which included Starbucks, Greggs, Esca, MilkInIt, McDonalds and The Windmill. The winning mince pie came top for both its pastry and mincemeat, and was served warm with a choice of brandy cream or frozen yoghurt.

MilkInIt shop owner Antonia Kadri said: “It’s what mince pies are accompanied with that makes them so special.” The mince pie retails for £1.55 with toppings, or a bargain 55 pence without. MilkInIt also had a French take on the mince pie, which consisted of crepes with mincemeat and brandy cream.

Esca, another independent retailer sold a mince pie crumble, which had a crumble topping rather than traditional short-crust one. Waitress Mathilde Delarse said: “The owner is very adventurous, so it’s typical of her to put a twist on tradition.” The pie retails for £1.50. Esca, a real festive haven, was also the reviewers’ favourite place to indulge in the Christmas treat.

Starbucks came out top of chains, with their luxury all-butter mince pie, which retailed for £1.65 if sitting in. Philippa Burton said: “I’m really impressed. The pastry just melts in the mouth.”

Staple high street bakery, Gregg’s, was described by Nneka Opara as “cheap and cheerful. The pastry let it down, but it was a bargain at only 30 pence.”

The reviewers were less impressed with the McDonald’s Festive Pie, which was described by Anna Parkin as “a festive fright” due to the texture of the pastry and the custard inside. The pies retail for 99 pence.

The Windmill gets a special mention for its melt-in-the mouth mince pies which they are selling to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. All the pies cost £2.00, so here you can have your pie and contribute to a worthwhile cause.

This review was written Syma Mohammed, a local student of Lambeth College. Thanks Syma!

As you may have seen on BBC news, this morning at 8.30am a bus overturned on the junction of Plough Road and Harbut Road in Clapham Junction leaving 20 people injured with four people, including the driver, seriously injured. The BBC has a set of high resolution photos here that show how serious the accident really was. Three people had to be cut free from the bus by firefighters and a number of the passengers were rushed to hospital. The bus was a ‘C3′ bus from Clapham Junction to Earl’s Court. We’re trying to find out more and will update as we hear it… See the first picture on BBC news and read more on The Guardian, Sky News and Daily Mail. Thanks to the Clappers following Love Clapham on Twitter for the info.

This is the list of local businesses abusing Clapham residents’ homes by ignoring people’s no junk mail stickers – which is completely unacceptable. All the businesses have to do is ask their leaflet delivery person to stop. Until then, the businesses will be listed here on LoveClapham, a site that has thousands of local residents reading it each week. And this is just the beginning of our Name & Shame Junk Mail Campaign, our messaging will get stronger. We recommend Clapham residents boycott these businesses completely until they stop. 

Businesses abusing local residents’ homes are:

1. 5 Star Building Construction
2. Curry Leaves takeaway, 103 Falcon Road
3. New Dewaniam, 225a Camberwell New Road
4. Pizza Valley takeaway, 316 Battersea Park Road
5. Plant Pizza takeaway, 155 Battersea High Street
6. Poppadom takeaway, 219 Camberwell Road
7. Wandsworth Guardian local newspaper

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.

Love Clapham enjoyed a hot Bratwurst with sauerkraut plus the biggest cup of freshly cooked churros and melted chocolate you have ever seen. There was plenty more on offer while it was open on Friday and Saturday, with local butcher Moen’s offering a fresh hog roast and other stalls selling food of the highest quality. On Sunday it became a flower market with hot food stalls too.

The next market is scheduled for the 11th, 12th and 13th of December (two week’s time) and it is being used as a test to see how popular the market will be for next year. So, if you want a high quality, weekly market in the future similar to Northcote Road and even a mini Borough Market, please make sure you a) tell people about it b) pop down to take a look for yourselves. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. See more pictures in the Clapham Social Network.