Balham
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Balham books (8 available)
Balham memories
Read and share memories of Balham and London inspired by Frith photos
the Green Dolphin Cafe
My grandfather bought Smiths Car Showroom after the war when it was the Green Dolphin Cafe. I can remember going to the cafe in the 1950s when I was small. I think it is now a windows showroom.
Contributed by Mrs C Fanning
London memories
the Green Dolphin Cafe
My grandfather bought Smiths Car Showroom after the war when it was the Green Dolphin Cafe. I can remember going to the cafe in the 1950s when I was small. I think it is now a windows showroom.
A memory of Balham contributed by Mrs C Fanning
Childhood walk
This could be my mother and me! I was 5 in 1951 and remember visiting the pond to 'feed the ducks'. The common became a wonderful playground durig my childhood, everything from 'the wild west' to 'army battlefields'. It was safe, we would spend all day playing without fears or worries. The important thing was to avoid the 'Parkie' (Park Keeper), what a memorable age.
A memory of Tooting Bec contributed by Martin Foulser
Running on the Common 1980s
During the '80s I lived in Streathbourne Road, just a couple of houses in from the Common. Weather permitting I would run in the evenings. One dark evening in the late autumn I ventured onto the Common. Running in the grass near the Lido, I tripped over a couple who were lying there shagging beneath a tree. I am afraid I gave the chap an awful kick in the ribs,and I took a frightful spill. When I got to my feet, the poor chap staggered to his, rubbing his side and looking fit to be tied. Needless to say we were both put out by this unfortunate turn of events, but before either of us had a chance to utter a ...read more here
A memory of Tooting Bec contributed by Donald Campbell
Extracts From Balham & London books
Nestled in the rear slopes of the North Downs, the village derives its ancient name from the Saxon word ‘wudmeresthorn’, meaning ‘thornbush by the boundary of the wood’, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. This 1930s mock-Tudor shopping parade still stands on Rectory Lane as it winds its way south to the junction with the Chipstead Valley Road, where the buildings of the Woodmansterne Treatment Works, belonging to the Sutton and East Surrey Water Company, are just visible.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Much of Banstead High Street was rebuilt during the 1920s with a series of shopping parades. The leafless lime tree in the middle distance occupies the spot where the village pond once existed, while All Saints’ churchyard is concealed behind the trees on the extreme right.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
The station, on the branch line from Sutton to Epsom Downs, opened in 1865, and the white stuccoed house, now a builder’s offices, dates from around the same time. The small confectionery kiosk was one of a trio servicing the requirements of commuters, with other branches at Sutton and Epsom. The roof of the station no longer bears the white lettering, and the building is almost a mile from the town centre itself. The road almost immediately makes another sharp bend over the railway line below, before passing the Cuddington Golf Clubhouse and continuing on to East Ewell.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Originally founded for ladies in the autumn of 1890, the club admitted gentlemen to membership within a year, and from a tin hut close to Banstead Railway Station it moved to this site in Burdon Lane nine years later. A putting green was added in 1923, and further major development took place in the years after this photograph was taken.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".
Situated on the corner of Sandy Lane, these courts, flanked by suburban houses, now form part of Cheam Fields Club. The pavilion in the background, although substantially altered, has also survived to the present day.
An extract from from"Around Cheam, including Sutton, Ewell, Banstead and Epsom Photographic Memories".