Battersea Matters the newsletter of the Society WINTER 2014

E-racing comes to SW11 Council likely to approve Formula E in

it’s (almost) official: Formula E wholly or in part on four days – the advances in this important eco- racing is coming to Battersea race weekend of 27/28 June 2015 plus technology and give our support I Park. In an international two days for setting up and de-rigging to the British motor racing industry championship race, electric cars will the stands and barriers. There will be which employs many thousands of race at 120 mph around the park’s some disruption in the lead-up to the people. roads next June. The race is is open event. ‘But above all else, we are quite only to cars with zero-emission clear that we will not support any electric engines. Eco-technology proposal that causes harm or The FIA, the organising body for Up to 30,000 spectators are damage to the fabric of the park and motor sport, hope that the race will be expected; a number of free tickets its important historical and heritage run each year for five years. will be given to local schools and features.’ Both the Battersea Society and community groups. The Council will make the Friends of Battersea Park (FoBP) Cllr Jonathan Cook, the council’s a final decision on 18 objected during the consultation environment spokesman, said, February 2015. period, mainly about the closure of ‘We are certainly keen to support the park to the public and potential damage. However the Council is Below: A plan of the proposals, with the minded to give the plan the go-ahead circuit in yellow. subject to planning permission. The Heritage Lottery Fund, which funded the park’s restoration, has also agreed in principle.

Concern Over the five years, the race would generate around one million pounds for the Council. In contrast, other cities, such as Miami and Monte Carlo, are paying to host the race. According to Boris Johnson, the race will bring considerable economic benefit to . At a well-attended meeting on 6 November organised by the FoBP, some local residents expressed their concerns about noise – not from the cars themselves but from the build- up and crowds – and damage to the park. Others were excited about the prospect of clean racing coming to Battersea, with knock-on effects on the popularity of electric cars and benefits to air quality. The park will be closed either From the editor and funnelling an icy wind through the be redeveloped. Many of us feel that ‘piazza’. You don’t see older people too many rough edges are being huddled in warm coats against the smoothed. Will the places that are cold – they’re not picturesque. You being designed expect us to behave Like in a good don’t see poor people – they can’t like the people in the perspectives? Christmas afford either the flats or the cafés. Will they nudge us towards it? pudding, Formula E racing is a hot topic there’s a Unreal? for debate. I have come to feel that little bit of You see a fantasy world. Attractive, there is much to be said for it. We are everything but unreal. And the notion of Nine concerned about air pollution (page in this issue Elms as a ‘cultural quarter’ – is that 5) – the race will raise the profile of of Battersea also unreal? I went on a walking tour less polluting transport. Young people Matters. of the area and although it is still will be enthused. Money will be raised There are dogs, there’s strong drink, largely a building site, the ambition for the park. Local cafés, pubs and there’s another of Mike Roden’s and desire to make it somewhere full businesses will prosper from it. If creepy seasonal stories that hang of art and great design is genuine. But it does go ahead, we will keep our about in your mind, there are tall in real life, will this happen? Artists readers informed of all aspects. towers. On the page opposite you will need somewhere to live and work that I hope all our readers will see one of those cunning developers’ is affordable. Battersea isn’t that now, have a very merry Christmas. perspectives, all glowing sunsets and let alone when the new developments Jenny Sheridan lightly-clad young people laughing and embassies arrive. [email protected] under trees or sitting outside Parisian- The arts flourish in scruffy corners 020 7350 2749 style cafés. What you don’t see is the – but Ransome’s Dock and Testbed 20-storey building towering above One, in one of those corners, is to

Knitting for schoolboys: The Man on the Bus: Health and safety hazard? Mike Roden reflects on talking, knitting, nutty slack and the festive season The smell calls to mind my father’s attempts to coax a dying fire into life Alan Bennett spent his childhood knitting scarves. with a sheet of newspaper, which engulfed by garrulous aunts whose This amusing little invariably turned brown, and then conversation had a tendency to jape was viewed black, sometimes bursting into flame. stride off in all directions at once. regarded with increasing annoyance He recalled his father saying by our teachers – ‘Are you knitting Give exasperatedly of one of them ‘I under your desk?’ was the usual cry, So are you hanging up a stocking on wouldn’t mind but you’re no further making it sound like something less your wall, or hoping that the snow forward when she’s finished than salubrious was going on. I have not will start to fall? That’s from Slade’s when she started’. picked up a knitting needle since, but 1973 hit record, by the way, and will I know how he felt. Why can’t recalling it made me wonder if there be coming to a radio station near people get to the point? Anyway, I’ve was an epidemic of such behaviour at you soon. The Christmas trees are come up with an idea to distract them the time. Google is infuriatingly silent now alight all over Battersea, and from bothering the rest of us with on the matter. Perhaps someone in the crowds are flocking to their their unending meanderings. I shall the cosmopolitan readership of this computers to find that perfect gift provide them with their own website. journal harbours a similar guilty secret for that less than perfect relative. While Twitter restricts entries to 140 from fifty or more years ago. It would It’s often observed that it’s better characters at most, my new offering be comforting to know I am not alone. to give than receive. The winter fuel – tentatively called Witter – allows an These days of course knitting needles allowance may well be vital to many, unlimited number of characters and would be banned from classrooms on but it’s hard to believe that most indeed insists on at least six hundred the grounds of health and safety. people I know would go cold without words for each entry. That should it. So once again can I remind you keep them busy for a while. Noxious that we have a very worthy charity An unlikely schoolroom memory According to a festive promotional here in Battersea which can put came back to me a few weeks ago. email I received for a local pub, such payments to good use. You can When I was thirteen the boys in amongst the odours associated read about the excellent work of the my grammar school class took up with the coming season of goodwill Katherine Low Settlement (and find knitting. This craze lasted for a week and over-eating are those of spiced the address for donations) on their or so – treated with disdain by our cider and chimney smoke. I’ve never website: www.klsettlement.org.uk. female classmates. We relied on our tried spiced cider, but chimney So mind how you go, and happy mothers or elder sisters to cast on or smoke – especially that created by Christmas to you all. cast off and never progressed beyond smouldering nutty slack is noxious.

2 Planning Matters: tall buildings contravene ’s policies Changes to the council’s planning procedures make it all the more important that residents comment, says Monica Tross

Tall buildings We have accepted that will have many tall buildings but More tall buildings at Lombard Road? two recent exhibitions show a for members to focus on applications worrying creep along to the west of supply reports on technical aspects Battersea. Exhibitions of proposed of major importance and/or which are such as the climatic and other matters of substantial local concern. developments on the Looker’s site in impacts of their proposal. We will York Road and at 12 – 14 Lombard We have always said that it is worth report back on the Council’s response individuals writing to comment or Road include plans for buildings in the new year. up to 17 storeys and 28 storeys object if they are concerned about aspects of any application – or indeed high respectively. You can see the Yet more consultations proposals for 12 – 114 Lombard Road if they particularly welcome proposed I have written before about our plans. This change of procedure at www.lombardroad.com and our time consuming, yet essential, comments on our website www. makes it even more important that participation in consultations. As I individuals write when necessary batterseasociety.org.uk. Further write we are gearing ourselves up to concerns are raised by proposals for rather than leaving it solely to the local respond on those for the Vauxhall civic society. a 14 storey building in Gwynne Road Gyratory, plans for the Thames Path, (2014/5357) to replace a two-storey changes to Wandsworth Council’s Recent applications building. planning policy documents, further Work has started on 1 Prince of Wales These are all way above the plans for the Winstanley Estate and Drive, plans which have caused heights in the Council’s Site Specific a study by Network Rail looking at us much concern but which have Allocations Document (SSAD) which routes into Waterloo and Victoria. been approved. We are awaiting sets out policies for appropriate We aim to publicise consultations the outcome of a further application heights of buildings area by area. when we can via the planning section to change the design of part of the This is concerning, especially as they of our website so our members can extension (2014/4184). We objected follow on from approval of the Heliport participate. We post our responses to the proposed change. Wandsworth House building in Lombard Road – and our comments on major Council has two applications in for – a project providing 14 luxury flats applications – via the News and large illuminated signs at Wandsworth in a building with an overall height Updates section of the Planning Link. Roundabout – 2014/5629 and 5812. of 20 storeys – and the Battersea So check out www.batterseasociety. The applications contain little or Park East application (2014/4665). org.uk – always worth a read. no information about the effect There is very much which is excellent on residents or drivers and we are about the plans for Battersea Park Planning decisions among many objecting. East, not least better links between delegated to officers Two pieces of good news. RBK&C Queenstown Road and Battersea Wandsworth Council has decided that turned down Cadogan’s latest plans Park stations and much improved applications will only be considered to develop the Curzon Cinema site in school facilities. However they include formally by the Planning Applications the King’s Road and an application for proposals for a 16 storey building Committee when there are three or changes to the Windward, Leeward opposite Battersea Park Station and more different objections or where a and Hope Buildings in York Place this will tower over its surroundings. councillor requests that an application has been withdrawn (2014/3329). We have written formally to the be considered. For other applications Council to ask to what extent we can an individual officer will consider and Are there applications we should expect SSAD policy documents to decide on an application, subject to know about? If so, please alert us via be respected. Our concern is that review by senior planning officers. [email protected] developers appear quite confident This makes good sense, as the Or do you take a different view on an that their application for a tall building paperwork for this committee grows application? Tell us please, we like will be accepted, as long as they ever longer and it is clearly sensible feedback.

3 Take a tablet to discover 19th century London The Panorama of the Thames project is a revelation, says Jenny Sheridan

Give yourself an early Christmas segments of the panorama must have Battersea Old Church (St Mary’s) in present – for free! Part two of the amused ladies and gentlemen as they Georgian times and the present day Panorama of the Thames project were ferried across the Thames. website is now online, and it is a fantastic achievement. Go to Silk factory present yourself, John and Jill the website and move along a The Battersea section shows a highly would appreciate it. Funding photographic panorama of the industrialised low-rise frontage, remains a severe problem. Battersea riverfront viewed from the especially in the eastern part, up to St You can send a festive cheque to other side as we seldom see it. The Mary’s Church. Further west there are Panorama of the Thames, 25 Garrick’s extent of the visually unplanned and stretches of gardens and woodlands Ait, Hampton on Thames, TW12 2EW unco-ordinated residential blocks and interrupted by a large silk factory and towers becomes glaringly obvious. then by the brewery in Wandsworth. Planners and architects will, or Click on a landmark and detailed The Battersea Society should, shield their eyes. historical information appears on the screen. Chair Sara Milne Inspire The site is compatible with iPads [email protected] Hopefully it will inspire them, if not and other tablets, and would greatly Vice-chair Sue Marshall to greater heights, to more respect enhance a walk along the Thames [email protected] both for the river and for their built Path. Secretary Harvey Heath neighbours. It will be invaluable to This ambitious project is the historians and to communities and brainchild of visual effects director [email protected] organisations trying to preserve and John Inglis and journalist Jill Sanders, Membership Sec Maureen Larkin improve on their heritage. who live on an eyot near Chiswick. [email protected] The other part of the website They have struggled for over three Committee Chairs is devoted to the same riverside years to access funding to bring it Community Harvey Heath in Georgian times. As though in a to fruition. If they are successful in [email protected] small skiff in mid-river you glide this, they plan to add further features past the shorefront in the early 19th including a history of boats on the Planning Liz Walton century. John Inglis, the director of Thames and its biodiversity and [email protected] the Panorama of the Thames, has water quality, as well as extensions Open Spaces succeeded in digitally restoring of the photo panoramas further back [email protected] Samuel Leigh’s 1829 panorama, in time. The geographical extent of Events Wendy Deakins which was 60 feet long. It was the modern panorama extends 52 [email protected] produced in segments, mainly for miles from Hampton to Tower Bridge. the use of people using boats at a Leigh’s panorama covers 30 miles General enquiries time when the river was still the major between Richmond and Westminster. [email protected] route for transporting goods through Spend some time studying the Website the capital. Before the embanking of website and I suspect you will be batterseasociety.org.uk the river, when it flowed more slowly, as fascinated as I was. If you wish Registered charity no.1103560 it was also popular for leisure, and to give the project a Christmas

4 The air that we breathe Tackle diesel exhaust to make it cleaner: Samantha Heath describes work to track air pollution Battersea should be part of the Ultra Low Emission zone. We support the retrofitting or upgrade of the most polluting vehicles such as buses and taxis. We need a comprehensive assessment of transport around Junction Improve the buses that go into Clapham Junction to reduce emissions. Review traffic lights so that traffic isn’t frequently at a standstill, smoothing traffic flow. A 20mph zone around Clapham Junction could help. Encourage shops in Clapham Junction to close their doors to reduce pollution in shops. Discourage drivers from keeping their engines idling at traffic lights, or when lorries are making deliveries Warn vulnerable populations of high pollution events Plan a car-free day Work with the Wandsworth Health team: Include air quality data in Joint Strategic Air quality matters to us Needs Assessments in Battersea. London Doctors should provide information on air Sustainability Exchange quality, especially to patients who suffer has been working with from asthma and other lung problems. the Battersea Society Iimplement the NICE guidance on walking and Wandsworth Living and cycling and lobby for guidance from Streets to investigate it NICE on air quality over the past year or so. Pollution is a very At the planning committee: real concern; in 2010 Support your planning team to develop the Lancet reported guidance on air pollution, especially that particulate matter to support only developments that are can lead to lung cancer, ‘Air Quality Neutral’ ie do not add to air and the World Health pollution. Organisation in their March Bulletin this year said that Campaigners assess Battersea’s there may be no safe limit for the very air quality small particles that get into our lungs. twice as much, although studies vary as either 10 or 2.5 microns across. So we were worried that the new and the reduction could be as much NO2 is the pollutant about which the developments – such as along Nine as eight years. We may suffer from European Commission has voiced its Elms Lane – would lead to increased reduced lung capacity, our arteries concern. It is looking to fine London traffic and more effects on people’s can thicken, and we could be more for having NO2 above European health. And the information from prone to strokes and heart problems. Standards. NO2 can cause and Defra and Transport for London may In the new year Wandsworth aggravate breathing difficulties. not give us the best picture about Council will be publishing its Air London Sustainability Exchange pollution. So we decided to explore Quality Action Plan, and I hope that (LSx), has been working with citizen this on local streets. many residents will respond. science for some time. This is an In London there are a number of exciting departure when citizens Lung capacity different pollutants. We looked at two gather data that is important to them, Air pollution has serious effects on – particles (PM) and nitrogen dioxide and with help they work out what it our health; it averages out to a loss (NO2). Small particles of dust (bits of means. In this case, Battersea Society of life expectancy of approximately tyre and diesel) that are smaller than members were collecting data on six months for every UK resident. In a human hair are called particulate pollution in their area. London our life can be reduced by matter or PMs. They are measured cont overleaf

5 Lichens to be higher nitrogen quantities in the Standard for both the small particles We used diffusion tubes, lichen air in that area. Particle meters detect (PMs) and NO2. studies and a particle meter to look at and count tiny PMs in the air. What can we do about it? Clearly the quality of the air in places where We started by analysing the air Clapham Junction is a hot spot for people may stand waiting for a bus quality along Nine Elms Lane and pollution, so special measures are or walk along the street doing their Battersea Park Road, and then moved needed to improve the situation. LSx’s shopping. Diffusion tubes are small onto Falcon Road and Clapham comments on the council’s Air Quality glass tubes containing a chemical Junction. We were quite surprised Action Plan are on page 5 – (more which reacts to NO2; this enables us by the results. There were a number details will be available on the LSx to determine the density of NO2. In of areas, especially around Clapham and Battersea Society websites once lichen studies, we look at the numbers Junction and the railway bridge at the details of the Plan are clear). of lichens present that need nitrogen Falcon Road, where levels appeared Samantha Heath is chief executive of to grow, indicating that there is likely to be well above the European London Sustainability Exchange.

A dog is for life… us. Last year alone, the Home’s community engagement team Georgina Watson of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home reached over 17,000 young people, describes tackling the status dog culture communicating and demonstrating how to be safe around dogs. The team visits local primary schools to Every year, Battersea Dogs & Cats there would be far fewer tragic teach young pupils how to behave Home deals with a number of cases incidents. Dog attacks tear apart around dogs, and gives advice to of dogs that have been trained to be our communities and affect how children over 12 about how to be a dangerous and used as weapons we feel about pets and specific dog responsible owner, where not to buy by irresponsible owners. The breeds. Any dog, no matter what size a dog from, and how much it costs to culture of ‘status dogs’ in society is or breed, can attack a child, adult or look after a pet. a tragic example of animal cruelty, another dog. Training and caring for and owners who train their dogs to an animal, and being able to clearly Companions be aggressive are risking the lives read a dog’s body language, are the Battersea believes it is important to of those around them and often only ways to help provide safety for educate people from a young age, condemning these animals to a death the likely victims of attacks, especially so children grow up understanding sentence. children.’ the responsibilities of having a pet. We care for nearly 6,000 dogs Education is the key The team visits Young Offender’s a year, and it is a very small to driving down the Institutes to deliver workshops percentage which has incidence of dog designed to encourage young people obvious signs of being attacks to make to see dogs as companions and not used as status dogs. sure that dogs as weapons or commodities. But we carefully assess and people can The team also reaches out to each dog and always enjoy each other’s families and pet owners at dog shows hope to offer them the company. Among and fairs, and community events chance of living in a loving, our tools to get across the capital where visitors can responsible home. important messages receive advice, and dogs can be out to thousands microchipped and given ID tags. New maximum penalties of often hard to reach We are committed to educating the We are active in calling for more young people is our short public on the serious consequences responsible dog ownership and earlier film, Bully Breed, which spells out the of irresponsibly owning a pet, or this year we welcomed the extension repercussions of training a dog to be attempting to turn a loyal, loving of dog laws to private property, aggressive. animal into a weapon. The charity and new maximum penalties for One such dog who was a victim of hopes that, working together with dangerous dog offences. However, the ‘status dog’ culture, was Bruno, a local authorities and the government, hospital admissions for dog attacks Staffordshire Bull Terrier who arrived it will be able to tackle the status have risen six per cent rise over the at Battersea earlier this year. He was dog culture, reduce the number of last 12 months. We believe the only rescued by someone who found him incidents each year and put an end effective way to reduce these attacks being beaten up on the streets. The to puppies being specifically bred to is to provide earlier intervention and shy four year old is now terrified of fight. better education on responsible dog large groups of people and cowers in Anyone who suspects a dog is ownership. crowded areas. Luckily for Bruno, his being trained to attack should report Dee McIntosh, Battersea’s director life has been transformed after finding them to the police immediately. of communications, says, ‘We a new home with a family in West www.battersea.org.uk believe if more people understood London. how to care for and be around dogs, It’s dogs like Bruno that inspire

6 Nine Elms – a new cultural district? Jenny Sheridan gives an update on the towers, the new jobs and the cost

Throughout the 20th century, Nine Elms was never a beautiful landscape. With no landmarks or cultural activity it was home to warehouses, the Royal Mail sorting office, railway good yards and the like. But now towers Proposal for the Thames Path are beginning to sprout, embassies will soon embed themselves and – development, with a total value of £15 new homes? perhaps – a new cultural district will billion – equivalent to the whole of At the NLA conference a director be created. Crossrail. It has taken off faster than of developer GL Hearn seemed to The people behind the new anticipated due to the confidence suggest that affordability criteria development, currently known as Nine created by the flagship US Embassy should be relaxed so that more of it Elms on the South Bank, describe and Power Station developments. The could be built; in other words it should it as ‘a place for culture, a place peak phase of the development will be made affordable to fewer people. changing for the better, to benefit be in 2016, when the Northern Line He also proposed that the affordable current and new communities.’ Extension and the Thames tunnel are units should be located away from Unusually, the two council leaders both starting construction. The great the more desirable areas, such as the of Wandsworth and Lambeth majority of the schemes – new homes, river. London has traditionally been are co-chairing the development offices and hotels – will be completed a city where rich and poor live close partnership, despite their political by 2025, not long for a regeneration together and share public space and differences. At a recent conference project on this scale. They will employ amenities. organised by New London and house significantly more people Nine Elms has been selected as Architecture (NLA), Councillor Ravi than estimated in the original 2012 suitable for a ‘cluster’ of towers. Govindia of Wandsworth described GLA framework. However Liz Walton, chair of the the massive growth in the last three Battersea Society’s planning years since he became council leader, Loop committee, points out that the cluster and especially since the Malaysian This area is seen by its developers, seems to be creeping westward, consortium took over the power both public and private, as part with many tall buildings being station. of central London, in particular as proposed that defy Wandsworth’s Three years ago Nine Elms was an extension of the South Bank. building height policies. She also full of industrial sheds, now the first They hope to pull the South Bank’s suggests that many tall buildings are residents are moving into Riverlight, diversity and popularity further inappropriate for affordable living. the Rogers Stirk Harbour-designed west, using culture in a broad At present few low or medium-rise blocks overlooking the river and Nine sense – sculpture, theatre, festivals, buildings are proposed in the new Elms Lane, where one-bedroom flats food. In ten years time a linear park developments. are selling for £800,00. (described by some as a mere ‘green This new district will need walkway’ as it will be narrow and people to work as well as live in it. Consultation heavily shaded) will link Vauxhall Considerable work has already gone Lambeth’s leader, Cllr Lib Peck, said and , taking into working with local schools to her council was committed to 40% an uneasy loop around the well- offer children the specific skills to social housing, mixed communities defended American embassy. The make them employable, especially in and an emphasis on local jobs. She Thames Path, currently windy and the construction phase. If reasonably said too that the Vauxhall gyratory deserted, will be beautified. priced premises are available, would be transformed into a place There is a commendable intention businesses will move in and jobs to linger (though some people might to make the ground level experience will develop in IT, in services such prefer it to remain a safe, dry place of walking through the new district as hairdressers and nurseries and in to catch a bus). There is currently a attractive. Landscape architects shops. TfL consultation on the bus station’s are being employed to enliven the A primary school is planned and future. Any reader who uses the buses public spaces. But who will live in there is talk of health premises, but may wish to add their comments. the residential skyscrapers, above these seem vague in comparison https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/ the art and the trees? Wandsworth to the concentration on a cultural vauxhall-cross or google Vauxhall will require developers to provide strategy. Perhaps the future residents Cross consultation. only 15% of affordable housing of Nine Elms on the South Bank are Nine Elms is an enormously while Lambeth aims for 40%. Will more likely to be users of private large and enormously expensive developers find it viable to build these health and education.

7 Great Bus Journeys of the World No.12 Mike Roden takes the 337 from Clapham Junction to Richmond

It was a chilly start to my latest foray improve accessibility to visitors and own productions and hosting visiting into unknown territory, courtesy of maximise funding to best serve the companies. By 1998 thanks to a TfL. I caught the bus at the bottom community. Wandsworth Council and generous legacy, vigorous fundraising of St John’s Road, and the on-board the Friends of Wandsworth Museum and a Lottery award the group was clock told me it was 10.10am. are supportive of the relocation. able to purchase the freehold. It is Apparently the use of the twelve hour However whether the press releases now the borough’s principal venue for clock has caused annoyance to those I’ve quoted from are telling the whole non-professional community theatre. who worry that it will be misleading story remains to be seen. Leaving East the bus stays to foreign visitors who work to the On Upper Richmond Road the on Upper Richmond Road, and is now 24 hour clock. Presumably these traffic is slow moving. A green plaque travelling through a mainly residential benighted folk also have no idea what on a gatepost commemorates A V area, large houses mixed with private am and pm mean! Roe, aircraft pioneer and designer flat developments, and very few of AVRO planes. In 1906 he won first shopping arcades. Quite a few people Truffle chips prize in a Daily Mail competition to get off as we stop outside Putney A left turn up St John’s Hill takes us design a model aeroplane which Leisure Centre, more energetic than through territory familiar from past could fly and set up a workshop me. I’ve been lulled into a rather journeys. I read recently that there has behind the surgery of his GP brother soporific state by the less than been a pub on the corner opposite (near the site of the plaque). A exciting terrain we’re going through. Plough Road since the eighteenth couple of years later he moved to century, but the current incarnation is Walthamstow where in 1909 his first Pilgrimage a world away from that early hostelry successful flight took place. He had It was nearby on Gipsy Lane, – being a ‘cosmopolitan New-York a long and distinguished career and near Barnes Common, that on 16 inspired bar and kitchen’ where the died in 1958. September 1977 the 29 year old delights on offer include ‘a pint and a We head into East Putney, passing Marc Bolan died when his Mini, bowl of white truffle chips’. The shops the station, which opened in 1889. driven by his girlfriend, crashed, along here have a lifestyle gloss Mainline train services ended in 1941, ending up against a tree. The tree to them, too – designer furniture, but the station remained in British Rail (and its associated memorial) has lighting and so on, which leads one ownership until 1994 when it was sold been a place of pilgrimage for T-Rex to suppose that this area is becoming to London Underground for £1. You devotees ever since. much sought after (and presumably never know when a fact like that might We’re on the edge of very expensive). be useful in a pub quiz! here, and the stop near Dover House After passing St John’s Therapy Road is a reminder of how in 1919 the Centre the bus heads down over Theatre LCC bought 147 acres of parkland Trinity Road towards Wandsworth Putney Arts Theatre began life belonging to adjacent private estates. via East Hill. The driver stops outside in 1959 when Maurice Copus, a Those in the big houses nearby South Thames College for a rather local teacher, was spurred by the expressed a ‘generous’ concern prolonged wait to make up time. enthusiasm of his pupils to found a that the estate should not be built There’s been a college here for more theatre group. After using various as transport links were inadequate than a century. Since merging with venues, in 1968 the group leased the for working class residents, with the Merton College, South Thames has disused and very dilapidated Union rather more concerned subtext that become one of the capital’s largest Chapel from the LCC and after six the value of their property would further education colleges. months of hard work by volunteers fall. Worries that the project would The closed Wandsworth Museum the first performance took place. The blight the neighbourhood were is a forlorn sight. The plan to move to building quickly became a thriving unfounded. There were eventually new premises in early 2015 aims to theatre, expanding the range of its over 600 houses on the Dover House

8 Estate and it was viewed as a model Lee, father of the internet, grew up Left to right: South Thames College; the of building design and landscaping here and went to the local primary pioneering aviator, A V Roe; the memorial where Marc Bolan died; an East Sheen and in its day was an LCC showcase, school. lifestyle emporium; Tim Berners-Lee, though the initial lack of shopping The local shops delight in founder of the internet; Hickey’s Alm and other facilities did cause some imaginatively telling you where they shouses, Richmond difficulties for the new residents. are, and (before I get bored) I note of the income to build and endow Leaving Dover House Road behind, Sheen Sports, Sheen Tyres, Sheen twenty almshouses, together with a the road traces the southern edge of Beds, Sheen Polish Deli and Sheen chapel and two gate lodge cottages – Barnes Common, one of the largest Living. I’d like to say there was a TV one for a porter, the other for a nurse. areas of common land in Greater and radio shop called Sheen and Since then another 29 dwellings have London. Although managed by Heard, but that would be less than the been built on land behind the original Richmond Council it’s actually owned truth. almshouses. by the Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s I get a sense now that I’m Cathedral. Almshouses approaching Richmond by the back Priory Lane is the home of And so, as the saying goes, we say door, away from the river, which is London’s longest established private farewell to East Sheen and start the the historical hub of the town. It has psychiatric hospital. As far as I final leg of our journey along Sheen been a long journey, and there’s little could see, the Priory Hospital is not Road into Richmond. The highlight on to report from the one way system visible from the bus, so I can’t report this stretch is the rather elegant Grade which takes us to the surprisingly spotting any celebrity patient walking II* listed Hickey’s Almshouses. William small bus station. It is 11.17 (whether in the grounds. The very elderly Hickey died in 1727 leaving several you’re using the 12 or 24 hour clock) gentlemen waiting at the bus stop properties on Richmond Hill in trust to and it’s starting to rain. It’s time to go with his dog didn’t really look like a provide pensions for six men and ten in search of the railway station. troubled pop star. women. In 1834 the trust used some The road crosses the Beverley Book at Priests Bridge. This river, nearly nine miles long and culverted Michael Pecirno’s for much of its course, enters the sculpture, The Thames near Barn Elms. At this Air Above, winner point it marks the boundary between of the Friends of Roehampton and East Sheen. The Battersea park name is apparently a reference to the 2014 sculpture award. beavers which used to be abundant Pecirno is a here until the sixteenth century. student at the Royal College Fame of Art scupture We’re now heading into the long, school. rather straggling high street of East Sheen. Near the war memorial on the traffic island locals call the Triangle is a curious milestone dated 1751 which gives us the useful information that the distance from here to Cornhill in the City is ten miles. One of the town’s claims to fame is that Sir Tim Berners-

9 The striking Goodbye to all that sculpture by Eric Kennington Jenny Sheridan looks at in Battersea Battersea Park’s memorials Park

This year, as always, Battersea’s ceremony of remembrance was held at the war memorial in Battersea Park. Local politicians and representatives of societies, public services and schools laid wreaths below the stone feet of three infantrymen, one of them a famous poet. The statue was the work of Eric Kennington, a Chelsea-born sculptor and painter who became an official war artist in both the first and second World Wars.

Battersea Pals It is a memorial to the 24th (East Surrey) Division, which included the Wandsworth and Battersea Pals’ battalions. The Battersea battalion was recruited by the Mayor of Battersea, Cllr TP Simmons, who insisted that the officers as well as the men be local. The 24th played a part in the battles of Vimy Ridge and the Somme, among others. The sculpture shows three soldiers, with detailed uniforms and helmets. The man on the left as you face the statue is based on Trooper Morris from a block of Portland stone, April, a service is held at the plaque Clifford Thomas, the one in the centre bought from sculptor Eric Gill for a commemorating the Australian and on Sergeant J Woods and the man on very welcome £300. The Battersea new Zealand forces who died at the right is Captain Robert Graves, Park siting was chosen by a vote Gallipoli in 1915. Nearby is a plaque the poet and author of The White among surviving members of the to the Australian air crews who were Goddess and Goodbye to All That. 24th Division and the sculpture was lost in action the Second World War. Kennington was known for recording unveiled on 4 October 1924. www.westernfrontassociation.com the courage of all ranks in the war. The The statue is situated near the men hold hands; beneath their feet bandstand and the athletics stadium, For more on the Pals’ Battalions see writhes a snake – the serpent of war. on the east side of the park. Battersea Matters winter 2010. Kennington made the sculpture There are two other war memorials in www.batterseapark.org in his Thames-side Chiswick studio the park. Each year on Anzac Day, 25

When Northcote Road was a disgrace

Many of the First World War Territorial Field Hospital – now the between 1869 and 1900. Most commemorations have focussed Royal Victoria Patriotic Building on were complaints on the state of on ‘the fallen’ – those who died in . Contributors the muddy roads (Northcote Road the armed forces. It is salutary to be to the Gazette were frank about the was ‘a disgrace to civilisation’), foul reminded of the horrors that survivors shell-shock and physical injuries they smells from sewers and piggeries suffered. An article entitled The and their patients experienced. and anti-social behaviour. This Chelsea artist on the Wandsworth included throwing a pot of paint over Salient in the Wandsworth Historian Muddy a complainant in Kennard Street. no 98 (Autumn 2014) describes the Another interesting article mines For copies of the Wandsworth Gazette, a magazine produced by the Battersea Library’s archive of Historian, contact Neil Robson patients and staff (who included a letters written by ratepayers to [email protected] number of artists) of the 3rd London the Wandsworth Board of Works

10 Restaurant review: London House Mike Roden and friends investigate what Gordon Ramsay is offering in Battersea Square

It was time, we agreed, taste like? Perhaps I’ve to check out Gordon sounded a bit dismissive, Ramsay’s Battersea Square but everything was establishment, London pleasant enough, and House. So the self-styled nobody pushed their Battersea Four made a plate away. I’m not reservation and were joined sure that any of us was by two country members overwhelmed by the up from Dorset for the experience, though. weekend. When you’re out with a It replaces the short- group of friends talking lived Bennetts Oyster Bar, nineteen to the dozen, which took over from the and drinking your wine, long disused All Bar One. In the food is just one part the Sixties it was a louche of the equation, and we night club, one of Princess didn’t really discuss the Margaret’s favourite haunts, finer points of each dish. where she and other celebs How much? Well, of the day danced on a glass floor The London House: The Battersea Four with a total bill of £376 including above a tank of piranhas. dined out in style service, it worked out to £62 a head. No piranhas tonight. We were not ‘sans taste’, and I enjoyed my brief Not everyone can afford that kind of ushered in with a rather old-fashioned encounter with the tiny, soft-boiled money, and it’s not something any of formality and led to our table, which quails’ eggs. The heritage carrot would spend regularly on a meal, but was definitely designed for fine dining, salad with pickled raisins and Tete de it everyone agreed it had been a good with its shining cutlery, massive Moine cheese was – despite its long evening. Lunch is available Thursday gleaming glasses and Persil-white description – underwhelming, and the to Sunday and broadly same three tablecloth. Most of the other diners romantic sounding Scottish girolle course menu is available for £28, were probably under forty and able to veloute turned out to be upmarket which all things considered might be hear their own voices above the rather mushroom soup. regarded as a bargain. loud music. A request to turn it down The waiter very considerately was greeted with a mildly apologetic Another bottle asked us whether we wanted a taxi. shrug – it was not possible to lower The main courses also took their We smiled benignly, and said that the the volume on different speakers. As time to arrive, and the red wine walk would do us good. He looked at we sat down, we discovered that the drinkers were forced to order another us with respect as we strode briskly stylish-looking chairs were less than bottle, though those quaffing white into the night. Presumably most of comfortable. wine were admirably restrained. those dining here live further than Highlight of the mains was probably a five or ten minute walk away. Juicy the succulent Cumbrian beef fillet London House The menus arrived promptly – three accompanied by parsnip and cumin 7 – 9 Battersea Square courses for £40. Biting the bullet we puree and braised cheek stuffed London SW11 3RA ordered wine – £25 for the white, potato gnocchi. The vegetarian 020 7592 8545 £28 for the red. That arrived quickly, offering Aubergine Parmigiana http://www.gordonramsay.com/ together with the tap water, but it took was tastefully augmented with a london-house a while to entice the waiter back once few rocket leaves. As usual the we were ready to order. It was then humbler root vegetable element was some time before the food arrived, pummelled into pureed submission advertisement and the wine went down quicker than and used to decorate the plates, perhaps it might have done! Big Yellow Storage Company Ltd which came in a variety of shapes, Units 1–2 York Road Business Centre The most arresting of the starters round, square, rectangular. The three 55 Lombard Street was a braised pig’s head croquette sides of spinach we ordered quickly Battersea, London SW113RX with quail eggs, pickled carrot and T 0207801 0280 disappeared. F 020 7801 1239 caper mayonnaise. As our dentist The desserts were perfectly OK, [email protected] companion from Dorset remarked, it nougatine parfait, pear and custard, bigyellow.co.uk is hard to recognise a pig’s head ‘sans vanilla yoghurt with apple jelly and tiny teeth sans eyes sans everything’, but doughnuts, or a selection of British the very juicy meat inside the two cheese. Get some space in your lifeTM bread-crumbed patties was certainly So what did this gourmet food 11 Buffalo Bill on Battersea Rise Pamela Hansford Johnson was a prolific and distinguished writer. Janice Morphet describes her links with Battersea

Pamela Hansford Johnson (1912 her for a while and Battersea – 1981) was a novelist, poet and libraries refused to buy a copy critic who lived at 53 Battersea although it was acquired by Rise with her family until she the Clapham library, where the was 22. Pamela’s father was a celebration of the centenary of civil servant in the Gold Coast Pamela’s birth was the last event (now Ghana) and died on leave before it closed in 2012. when Pamela was 11, leading Although Pamela and Dylan to financial insecurity. Pamela’s Thomas contemplated marriage, grandfather had been Sir Henry they parted in 1935. Pamela Irving’s manager and her great married Gordon Stewart in aunt Emma Howson was the first 1936 and after their divorce she Josephine in HMS Pinafore. married C P Snow, later Lord He kept an open house for Snow, in 1950. Although Pamela musicians and actors on Sunday moved to Chelsea in 1934, evenings – something Pamela many of her subsequent books missed as the money diminished. had Battersea links. Pamela Her mother and aunts spent had a career in writing and some time on the stage but later contributing to Radio 3’s The moved into other jobs and her Critics and joined her husband mother let out the top of the on trips to the United States house. Pamela’s mother took in where they taught for periods. typing, including for the son of Buffalo Bill and Pamela wrote Fantasy that to see him coming ‘down our Writing in her autobiography, area steps on Battersea Rise, published in 1974, Pamela with Stetson hat and long recalled living in Battersea Rise: flowing locks was something of an Pamela Hansford Johnson marries ‘We lived in a large brick terrace experience’. C P Snow in 1950 house bought by my grandfather Pamela attended Clapham County some time in the eighties, when it Grammar School in Broomwood looked out on fields … By the time Road for which her mother paid £5 I was born, the railway had come a term. Despite her headmistress in Battersea which was eventually and the houses had been built up wanting Pamela to attend university, completed and published in 1935. right over the hills between it and she left school at 16, taking a The title, This Bed thy Centre, was us. Not pretty I suppose. But in my secretarial course in South Molton St suggested by Thomas from a Donne childhood, I could create an Arabian and then a job in the Central Hanover quotation. Pamela writes in her Nights fantasy about anything and Bank in Lower Regent’s Street. autobiography that the publication found the smoky sunset between the had the same impact as Lucky Jim spires of St Mark’s and the Masonic Dylan Thomas in the 1950s. The main character School magical to contemplate’. It was while she was working at the Elsie lives with her mother and has Further reading: bank that Pamela submitted her a boyfriend, Roly, whose father is Pamela Hansford Johnson poems for publication and had some a Battersea councillor. Roly also This Bed thy Centre (introduced by success in a competition set by Victor works in Battersea town hall and Zoe Fairbairns) 2012 edition, Fig Neuberg in the Sunday Referee. eventually finds a job for Elsie there Leaves Publications Nottingham; Shortly after this, Dylan Thomas won as well. Despite an affair between Here Today, 1937 the same competition and Pamela Roly and a local librarian, Elsie and Important to Me 1974 (autobiography) started a long and increasingly Roly marry and the novel ends as she Ishrat Lindblad, Pamela Hansford personal correspondence with him. contemplates their future together. Johnson, Twayne Publishers Boston Eventually they met in February 1934 1982 when Dylan Thomas stayed with Disowned Isabel Quigly, Pamela Hansford Pamela and her mother in Battersea The novel dealt with suicide, sex Johnson Longmans 1968 Rise for two weeks and then later for outside marriage and cancer as (ed) Andrew Whitehead and Jerry six weeks. Pamela and her mother well as describing many shops and White London Fictions 2013 Fig also visited Thomas’s family in locations in Battersea. Its risky Swansea. subject matter meant that her family In 1933, Pamela started a novel set and the local community disowned The disappearing hat An uncanny tale from Mike Roden

You’ll all remember that bone-chilling darkness. ‘There was a laundry there. back, but the guy just vanished…’. December some years ago, which I could smell damp washing and She paused, ‘There were a couple turned out to be one of the coldest soapsuds…’ of other weird things. He suddenly for a century. It was cold enough in Harriet studied me thoughtfully. heard a choir singing a carol out in Battersea on that Carols in the Square ‘This isn’t going to turn up in one of the square. And the guy was holding evening. I’d been giving out flashing those stories of yours is it?’ some kind of pamphlet – now I know Santa hats and reindeer antlers. ‘Well,’ I pondered, ‘There used it’s the song sheet they give out. It had Now the special guest had said their to be a laundry there. From about a date on, same date – but different few words, the tree lights had been the time of the first world war – the year. It made no sense to him. But switched on, and with a couple more Cotswold Laundry.’ then nothing made any sense. The carols from local choirs, the event man vanished, the choir too. It was was coming to an end. We pushed to Laundry all part of the weird story. He always the back of the crowd looking for our ‘I see,’ said Harriet. ‘Look, this mulled wished he could be around in the 21st friends Leo and Harriet. wine is a bit short on wine for my century so he could come back to If you were there that year you’re liking. I need a real drink.’ Battersea and take a look.’ certain to have noticed Leo. He is ‘Listen,’ Leo grabbed my arm, ‘I She gave a sad little smile. ‘He very tall, well over six feet. And he had no idea that used to be a laundry.’ didn’t quite make the millennium. As was wearing his long black winter ‘I don’t believe you did, you’ll have guessed he left overcoat, almost to his ankles. But Leo.’ his hometown and went the hat made him stand out. It was But all the way to the travelling. Ended up in New a souvenir of their trip to the north- Woodman he couldn’t let York, raised a family, had west USA the previous year – a garish it go. He’d strayed into plenty of grandchildren, tartan fur-trappers hat with fur lined Cotswold Mews out of including me. And your hat ear-flaps. The overall effect was curiosity. ‘It’s one of those came in pretty useful during enhanced by the large metal badge places you never go in. It our winters, Leo.’ pinned on it in the shape of a grizzly looked mysterious. Then out ‘You’ve come all the way to bear with sharp teeth set in an evil of nowhere this skinny boy snatches Battersea just to see if his story was grin. my fur hat off my head and runs off true?’ interrupted Harriet with an air of waving it like a trophy… ‘. disbelief. Snatched ‘Just exactly as he told me!’ ‘Oh I always believed it was true,’ The crowd and choir were united The young woman who spoke had said Laura fiercely, ‘Grandpa wouldn’t (more or less) in a lusty rendering of followed us into the pub. ‘It’s a real have lied to me. And I guess he’d the final carol Oh Come All Ye Faithful. strange tale.’ be tickled to know that I might live Leo and Harriet stood in the entrance ‘Then you must sit down,’ said in Battersea one day when the US to Cotswold Mews both clutching Harriet, ‘Leo – get the lady a drink.’ embassy moves across the river. I plastic cups of mulled wine and Leo She shook her head. ‘No thanks, work there, you see, so it wasn’t too still held his song sheet. But rather I can’t stay. My name’s Laura, by the hard for me to come here today and than Leo’s silly hat, I saw his shock of way. I guess you’ve noticed that I’m take my own look.’ unruly white hair. an American.’ She stood up, ‘But I must go now. ‘Where’s the hat?’ asked my wife. She addressed Leo. ‘When I came And you really should have this back, Harriet shrugged. ‘He’s always into the Square tonight and saw you – Leo.’ losing something. He left his umbrella wearing that crazy hat, with the badge on the 170 yesterday. Our neighbour it was quite … moving.’ Teeth picked it up and brought it back. Her voice broke a little and then On the table she laid a metal badge Someone always brings things back. she became brisk. ‘I was about showing a grizzly bear on its hind He’s like a human magnet.’ twelve, thirteen years old when legs, with its teeth showing in an evil She waved her hand back into the Grandpa told me the story – showed smile. ‘I said I’d return it if I could.’ mews. ‘It’s in there somewhere. Must me a picture, too. He died a couple of Then she was gone. be. No sign of it though.’ years later, but I never forgot. He was Wonderingly Leo turned the badge Leo shook his head in a rather born here in Battersea. He told me over in his hand. ‘Looks the same,’ he dazed fashion. ‘This boy snatched how one December day…’ said. ‘But the story doesn’t seem very it off my head, and ran off singing – She paused and looked at us all, likely does it?’ ‘Where did you get that hat?’. ‘The same date as today – how he ‘I don’t know,’ I said, ‘As Harriet ‘An old music hall song,’ I said. snatched the cap from a tall thin guy observed earlier, if you lose ‘Don’t hear it that much these days.’ who came into the laundry yard where something, it always comes back to Leo stared back into the mews he was working, doing odd jobs. It you.’ again, most of the offices were in was a joke, he was going to give it © Mike Roden 2014

13 Wandsworth It starts with a name and don’t we all begin that way? Two rivers meet, the watermills flow and Wandesorde, Wendelsorde, Wandsworth is born. In Domesday’s book this borough boasts meadows and This poem was sufficient hides commissioned for a dozen neighbourhoods to thrive. by the Southbank A brewery Centre and is displayed on a and a trembling bridge where troops poster outside the must pause . to break their step. For really I think that the poorest hee in Hath a life to live as the greatest and therefore Truly Sir, we measure our hearts Eagle Alehouse 1: Government 0 according Local landlords celebrate Commons vote to the promise. No cat, or dog or person Dave Law and Simon free of that tie. will be left in the cold. There is Clarke, landlords of the ‘We are thrilled that common land Eagle Alehouse in Chatham MPs have supported this for all to graze, parks and Road, celebrate the victory fundamental change’ says promenades to praise of their long campaign Simon. ‘Over time it should And you will know it when the cabbie to end abusive uses of lead to lower rents and says, ‘Here’s the pubs beer tie. Dave cheaper beer. It’s good Gateway to the South.’ and Simon have been at for publicans and drinkers A monument to power the forefront to the ten alike and should see growth still, four chimneys rise like upturned year struggle, working return to the pub sector.’ legs. with CAMRA and other The Eagle is known for A table waiting to be set. Towering , organisations. its well-kept ales, its sports the prison walls In November, MPs voted coverage and its friendly shadow homes as evening falls on against the government atmosphere. Carmichael Mews to support an option for Its tradionally riotous and Alma Terrace. landlords to choose to be carol evening is on Sunday tied to a pub company or 14 December. Cheryl Moskowitz

Inflation, inflation, inflation… Half a million for garages leaves Jenny Sheridan bemused

You’ve got a spare half million. What problem). Sadly, you’re too late, they to do? You could buy a 17th century were sold at auction this summer. chateau in south-west France with With a starting price of £135,000 eight acres of grounds, and fulfil those the bidding rose swiftly and the dreams of opening a boutique hotel. hammer came down at £500,000. Or there’s Moreton House, a listed Even Savills raised their impeccable Georgian manor house in Devon with eyebrows. 28 bedrooms – plenty of storage For the impecunious with just space for all that stuff you’ve got in quarter of a million going spare, an the cellar. alleyway off Northcote Road went for Or you could buy three garages. In £260,000 in September. At least that Blenkarne Road, Battersea. Without had planning permission. planning permission (but hey, this is Wandsworth: that shouldn’t be a 14 Gin: it’s a tonic Letter to the editor Jenny Sheridan enjoys the Christmas spirit We have received a letter in response to the article on page 12 of the autumn issue of Battersea Matters. Society member Virginia Hiller writes: • Susie Morrow (Can the school run be fun, BM Autumn 2014) writes in a positive manner of the advantages of `walking, cycling or scooting ... to school’ as a great way for children to recognize and deal with the dangers of the street that they will have to face sooner or later‘. Actually it is the unfortunate pedestrians who are often in danger-indeed a friend of mine recently suffered a very bad cut to her leg caused by the sharp front of a scooter. Is there something about Battersea Joe Ricketts and The late, much missed PC and gin? Not so long ago Gordon’s the copper still Johnny Johnson told me he spent was distilled in quantity by the river The whisky will be the first to be a large amount of his time telling here, where those vast St George’s distilled in London for over 100 years. children-and their parents-not to blocks now loom over Wandsworth It is made from a mixture of rye and scoot or cycle along the pavements. Bridge. And now, near Battersea barley and matured in English oak Pavements are for walking. Bridge, a brand new distillery has barrels. The barrels have an important I live in Orbel Street, and sadly launched Dodd’s Gin, a high-end effect on flavour, and the distillers the young children from local drink produced with great care in plan to experiment with different kinds schools frequently use nearby small quantities and bottled and of wood to gauge these effects. They Trott Street and Shuttleworth labelled by hand. will also try to source old varieties Road pavements as a race track. of yeasts and grains, such as the Herbs The children rush in front on charmingly named Plumage Archer The London Distillery Company uses scooters or bikes while the parents/ barley. angelica, black and green cardamom, au pairs seem oblivious of their The distillery is based in the bayleaves, fresh lime peel, raspberry responsibilities. Unfortunately Testbed complex on Parkgate leaves and honey (from London parents also often ride bikes in Road. It will be re-developed along hives) as well as juniper, gin’s basic the road while their offspring keep with Ransome’s Dock, losing more flavouring. All the herbs are organic, level, often at a great rate along the of Battersea’s fast-disappearing as is their UK-produced wheat spirit. pavement. industrial heritage – the building was The first distilling takes place at high Walking or using public transport a warehouse for a dairy. ‘We will have temperature in their spectacular to school is a great idea; we are to move in 2016,’ says Joe Ricketts. 140 litre copper still, then the more very well served by an excellent bus ‘We’d love to return, but we are also delicate herbs are added for cold service. looking around. It’s lovely here, with distilling, left to mingle for about This would also help to cut down the Doodle Bar, and Battersea Park four weeks and then bottled. ‘It has on the growing number of Chelsea just up the road where we go for a luscious texture and is fresh and tractors which occupy parking picnics at lunchtime.’ aromatic,’ says sales manager Joe spaces outside our houses. At £35 for 50cl, the gin is far from Ricketts. ‘You get different aromas In the meantime, bikes (for cheap. Full disclosure: I treated myself depending on whereabouts in London children who are not yet ready to to a bottle, and it really is delicious. the honey comes from. You can drink cycle by themselves in the road) At 49.9% strength, and at that price, it with tonic, but many people like it and scooters should be confined I drink a tiny iced glass occasionally neat with just an ice cube or two. to Battersea Park, or areas where after supper, as a rather delightful ‘The founders started with the there are few pedestrians. change from my usual cuppa. idea of producing whisky’, explains Hopefully the head teachers of our local schools can Ricketts. ‘But it takes three years to Available from Harvey Nochols, include considerate use of get a licence to make whisky so we Fortnum & Mason and the distillery. pavements within their valuable started with gin. The whisky is on London Distillery Company road safety classes. its way and we hope it will be ready 33 Parkgate Road, SW11 4NP. before Christmas.’ www.londondistillery.com Virginia Hiller

15 Christmas is for going out From skateboard parks to treasure islands, there’s a lot on locally for children, says Jenny Sheridan Christmas is a busy and expensive time of the year. Many Battersea Society members will have children or grandchildren to entertain, and it can Christmas at Kew promises be hard – even in London – to know a magical experience what to do with children of assorted Treasure Island promises thrills covered in holds of varying difficulty. ages. galore. £15 – £50. Children as young as six can learn the We offer here some suggestions At the Rose Theatre, Kingston, challenges and fun of climbing. Prices for outings of various kinds. Most Children and nostalgic adults can visit from £6.50 for kids, £7.50 for any are not prohibitively expensive, a few Narnia in a new production of The adult brave enough to give it a go. are free, and all are easy to reach Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The London Eye, though from Battersea. No need to go to the meeting Mr Tumnus, the mighty Aslan expensive, is a treat. It costs £29.50 overcrowded, over-priced West End! and the four children. For over 7-year- whether you are six or sixty five – a bit Here in SW11, the Battersea olds. £10 – £27. less if you book online. Arts Centre is offering Antarctica, Wandering players will guide the Kew Gardens opens in the produced by Little Bulb, audience round five atmospheric evenings for a winter wonderland, who created the floors of the Bargehouse (behind the with trees illuminated in fairyland much-enjoyed Oxo Tower) in a site-specific version colours, a fire garden and giant light Orpheus. Includes of Philip Pullman’s adaptation of the sculptures. £10 for children, £15 songs, puppets Grimm Tales for young and old. For adults if, as recommended, you book and snowy anyone over 8 and fearless. Children in advance. surprises. For £20, adults unclear. children 2-6. £40 Slava’s Snow show, recommended Bus sculptures for four people for anyone from eight to 88 and So what can you do for free? The including at least two described as ‘an unforgettable adventure playground in Battersea children. comedy masterpiece’ is at the Royal Park remains free, thanks to Also in Battersea, Theatre 503 Festival Hall. Tickets from £20. Also vigorous campaigning. Or there’s is offering a three-man pantomime on the South Bank are pop-up choirs, the skateboard park on Clapham ‘for those who like their panto with a a Christmas tree maze and a little Common, with a handy café for twist’: Cinderella and the Beanstalk. train. attending adults. In St George’s Children over 8. Family tickets for four Park in Wandsworth there is a £40. Active delights skateboard, scooter For children over six, The Polka But it’s not all and BMX track. For Theatre in Wimbledon is putting on about sitting in children living outside Peter Pan. £17.50 adults and children. the dark watching London, a simple ride On 9 January, June Whitfield is theatrical magic – on the top deck of a reading children’s stories, for children though for children bus is an adventure – of 4 and a little older. The Polka café that can be even especially if it’s to see is particularly child-friendly. more magical. There are the Christmas lights. The Wimbledon Theatre has more active delights on offer. As a bonus, TfL has Cinderella, starring Linda Gray (Sue Open air ice rinks are popping up designed a Year of Ellen in Dallas, for those with long all over the place. The two nearest the Bus sculpture trail, with buses memories) and Wayne Sleep. £12 – to us are at the Natural History decorated by artists popping up in £48. Museum, surrounded by sparkly unexpected places. Accessible on Younger children may love The trees, £8.80 for children, £12.65 for foot or by bus. Snow Dragon at the St James adults. And there’s a brand new rink Fans of the bear from Peru will Theatre in Victoria. A young goat down the road in Vauxhall Pleasure want to find all the 50 Paddington named Billy finds himself in trouble: Gardens, a little cheaper at £7.50 for Bear statues in London, via the how will he escape? For children over children, £10.50 adults. Street food Paddington Trail. See them by bus, 3. £9 – £18. trucks are promised too. walking or Boris bike. The statues There is murder, mutiny and Also in Vauxhall, in the railway have been designed from ideas by madness at the National Theatre arches, is Vauxwall, a colourful and artists and celebrities. Boris’s bear is, for kids over 10 and their families. exciting climbing centre with walls of course, called the Bear of London.

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