March 2011

The Brighton i360 tower: ‘successor’ to the West Pier

Thu 31st March, 2011Mon 13th May, 2013 - by editor - 11 Comments.

With the remains of Brighton’s magnificent West Pier now doomed to slowly rust away into the English Channel, the West Pier Trust have lent their support to what they believe …

photos / Places

Remembering the Brighton West Pier in photos, part two

Thu 31st March, 2011Thu 31st March, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

By 2003, storm damage and two arson attacks had all but destroyed the entire structure of the West Pier. Although there is an active campaign to create an ‘appropriate successor …

photos / Places

Remembering the Brighton West Pier in photos, part one

Thu 31st March, 2011Thu 31st March, 2011 - by editor - 14 Comments.

I fell in love with this pier when I first saw it used as a backdrop for some of the photos in the photo supplement that accompanied The Who’s Quadrophenia double album. …

Brixton / Clubs & Nightlife / London / Places

Brixton pub quizzes: a handy list

Wed 30th March, 2011Fri 1st April, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

I’m fairly partial to a beer-fuelled pub quiz or two, and there’s always quite a few going on around Brixton in the week. There doesn’t seem to be any official …

Brixton / Places

Save our libraries videos: Brixton library and more

Wed 30th March, 2011Wed 30th March, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

Well worth five minutes of your time is this short video (below) filmed outside Brixton Library showning how the community is fighting to keep libraries open across the UK.

Brixton / Places

Farewell then, Brixton Pope’s Road car park

Tue 29th March, 2011Tue 29th March, 2011 - by editor - 5 Comments.

Although it was undeniably useful as a car park, Brixton Pope’s Road multi storey car park was an utterly charmless slab of mean and oppressive architecture, and I’m delighted to …

Brixton / Clubs & Nightlife / music / Places

Offline Brixton weekender: Drunken Balordi and Narcotic Daffodils

Tue 29th March, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Last weekend was ambitious: two Offline Club nights at the Brixton Prince Albert with the massive TUC March for the Alternative demo in the middle – but we just about …

London / photos / Places

March for the Alternative, London demo: 220 photos

Mon 28th March, 2011Thu 31st March, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

It’s been one hell of a weekend, but I’ve finally got around to posting up my photos from the huge march on Saturday. Scroll down for a selection, with links …

London / Places

Photos from the TUC March for the Alternative, 26th March 2011

Sat 26th March, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

Just got back in from the huge anti-cuts march in central London today. I took hundreds of photos but seeing as I have to get ready for the free after …

Brixton / Places

Sunday 27th March – Brixton Pope’s Road footbridge is coming down

Fri 25th March, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

The last standing reminder of the Pope’s Road car park is set to disappear, with the removal of the concrete link bridge coming down this Sunday.

cardiff / Places / snow / Wales

Photo of the day: raised manhood covers

Fri 25th March, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Spotted in Thornhill, north Cardiff, February 2004.

Brixton / London / Places

Abandoned Victorian mansions, Windsor Walk, Denmark Hill SE5

Fri 25th March, 2011Fri 25th March, 2011 - by editor - 7 Comments.

Left empty and criminally deteriorating are these fine early Victorian mansions on Windsor Walk, right next to Denmark Hill railway station, London SE5.

London / Places

Celeb-compacted launch for The Shed Cafe, Walham Grove SW6

Fri 25th March, 2011Fri 25th March, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

I’ve been along to some cafe launches before, but there’s no doubting that the launch for The Shed in Fulham last night was the liveliest of the lot.

Brixton / Places

Happy Birthday to the Brixton Ritzy – 100 years old today

Thu 24th March, 2011Thu 24th March, 2011 - by editor - 4 Comments.

Today is the 100th birthday of The Ritzy, and if you get down there quick they’re marking the occasion with a special screening celebrating the birth of cinema and the …

Brixton / Places

The Crown (Mucky Duck), 201 Coldharbour Lane SW9 awaits its fate

Thu 24th March, 2011Thu 24th March, 2011 - by editor - 4 Comments.

Loughborough Junction may be in motion, but one place that has been stationary for years is the old Crown pub at 201, Coldharbour Lane SW9/corner of Padfield Road, SE5.

Brixton / Places

Brixton and the unexpected Coutts Bank connection

Thu 24th March, 2011Wed 25th January, 2012 - by editor - 16 Comments.

With its peeling paint, neo-brutalist lines and Cold War looks, 336 Brixton Road sports all the charisma of a soon-to-be-condemned failed council project, but this stark concrete oddity from the late 1960s has a rather …

Brixton / London / Places

March for the Alternative demo, Sat 26th March 2011 – info, legal help, chat and after-party

Wed 23rd March, 2011Sat 26th March, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

The Government is introducing spending cuts that will damage public services, put hundreds of thousands out of work, have a terrible impact on the vulnerable, damage communities and undermine much …

Brixton / London / photos / Places

A walk through ‘in motion’ Loughborough Junction, south London

Tue 22nd March, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

Laughably labelled as “in motion” by some Frappuccino-fuelled over privileged rich-kid overheard in a cafe, Loughborough Junction remains a pale shadow of its former self.

London / Places / railways

Fantastic London transport map is a rail buff’s delight

Tue 22nd March, 2011Mon 21st March, 2011 - by editor - 7 Comments.

If you’re as cartographically obsessed as me, you’ll quite happily spend long hours poring over Ordnance Survey maps, archive maps, route diagrams and rail maps, and if you’ve any interest …

Brixton / Places

Brixton Station Road/Pope’s Road car park – flattened!

Mon 21st March, 2011Mon 21st March, 2011 - by editor - 3 Comments.

Now almost totally obliterated from the Brixton landscape is the concrete multi-story car park that loomed on the corner of Brixton Station Road and Pope’s Road.

Places

Remembering Claremont Road and the M11 Link road protests

Mon 21st March, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

This video footage of the 1994-5 protests against the No M11 Link road campaign in Leyton and Leytonstone in East London brought a nostalgic tear to my eye. Claremont Road …

Brixton / London / Places

Ruskin Park in the spring, south London

Mon 21st March, 2011Mon 21st March, 2011 - by editor - 38 Comments.

One of south London’s lesser known parks, Ruskin Park is situated between Camberwell, Brixton and Herne Hill (and right next to Denmark Hill station), and I took a lovely stroll through it …

cardiff / football

Millwall 3 Cardiff City 3, 19th March 2011

Sat 19th March, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

This game had everything – except a win for Cardiff. We had Millwall fans fighting amongst themselves, dodgy refereeing, sending offs, a penalty revoked, fightbacks, a fantastic atmosphere and, sadly, …

London / Places

London’s 288m Pinnacle Tower gets back on track

Sat 19th March, 2011 - by editor - 1 Comment

After reaching just six floors high, work stalled on the Pinnacle Tower (formerly known as the Bishopsgate Tower) last year after a half-billion pound shortfall in funding looked set to consign the …

Brixton / London / Places

A trip to the South London Gallery and No 67 cafe, London SE5

Sat 19th March, 2011Sat 19th March, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

One of London’s lesser known art galleries, the South London Gallery lurks in deepest Camberwell – right next to Camberwell School of Art – and is well worth a visit.

Brixton / Clubs & Nightlife / Places

St Patrick’s night in Brixton – ceilidhs, Sambucas, ales and a massive hangover

Fri 18th March, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Man oh man this turned out to be a hell of a night. The first stop was a well-packed Prince Albert on Coldharbour Lane before walking up towards Stockwell for …

Brixton / Places

Pic of the day: Lambeth Salt, Brixton

Fri 18th March, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Seen on Gresham Road, Brixton SW9 is this knackered old lid to a salt storage unit.

Places / Wales

St Patrick was a Welshman!

Thu 17th March, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

First off, let me wish a happy St Patrick’s Day to my Celtic compatriots and hope you all have a great night tonight – I’ll be out celebrating with my pals at …

Brixton / music / Places

Ricky Rankin “Trick I” celebrates his Brixton roots

Thu 17th March, 2011 - by editor - Leave a Comment

Time to big up MC, singer and song writer local boy, Ricky Ranking who celebrates his sarf London roots in this 2005 video set against a backdrop of Brixton streets. Lovin’ …

Brixton / London / Places

Brixton riot 30 years on: Windrush Square event, Sun 10th April 2011

Thu 17th March, 2011Thu 17th March, 2011 - by editor - 2 Comments.

It’s been thirty long years since the streets of Brixton responded to increasingly heavy handed policing with a full blown riot, involving up to 5,000 people. Described as “Bloody Saturday” …