Jews Walk

[ronny]

Finally tracked down the reference to Jews Walk in recent literature that had been niggling me. It was the site of the unusual topiary-trimming fatality in Jonathan Meades "comic" novel about a south east London undertaker - The Fowler Family Business

I live there but have no idea of where the name comes from. Apparently though that is the reason why Eleanor Marx was attracted there in the first place (she and Karl Marx were Jewish).

 

[beeboo]

kirkdale or westwood end?

ahem

 

[Streathamite]

ah yes...ahem
still nowhere near a decent pub then

 

[Donna Ferentes]

a-hem!
famous one-time residents:
pisarro
shackleton
WG grace
john logie baird.
sydenham ROCKS!

Not just rocks - George Grove (Dictionary of Music) lived there too, according to a sign I saw this evening while waiting for the 202 never to turn up.

 

[London_Calling]

Not famous, but a very special - and more significant - person:

Dame Cicely Saunders - had the pleasure of sitting with her once for 1/2 hour, just the two of us. Her aura of . . . something . . . stays with me.

People with that vibe and life are beyond what I'd consider the normal parameters.

 

[beeboo]

Not famous, but a very special - and more significant - person:

Dame Cicely Saunders - had the pleasure of sitting with her once for 1/2 hour, just the two of us. Her aura of . . . something . . . stays with me.

People with that vibe and life are beyond what I'd consider the normal parameters.

 

[vahvistus]

There is a jews walk in Clissold park. It is an old name for one of the paths and it goes down to Queen Elizabeth walk where there was a synagogue.

 

[milesy]

There's a Jew's Walk in Wandsworth, which is home to The Ship and a bloody nice pub it is...though it is a Young's pub.

a bit too sloaney at times....

 

[BarryB]

There is a jews walk in Clissold park. It is an old name for one of the paths and it goes down to Queen Elizabeth walk where there was a synagogue.

Have you got a source for this? Ive used Clissold Park for many years but never heard of this. Thanks.

BarryB

 

[maomao]

I thought they drive Volvos.

 

[i like humous]

In my old hometown (Lincoln) you will find "Aaron the Jews House", which dates from Norman times.

At one time, the small Jewish community here were moneylenders (!) to the King of England.

I don't know what rate of interest they charged at the time.

The house is one of the oldest houses standing today in the UK.

Giles..

Jews were usually forbidden from working in most tasks, with unpopular moneylending being one of the few open to them - in fact, they were often forced to be moneylenders.

Also, from Wikipedia:

Lincoln was home to one of the five most important Jewish communities in England, well established before it was officially noted in 1154. In 1190, anti-semitic riots that started in Lynn, Norfolk, spread to Lincoln; the Jewish community took refuge with royal officials, but their habitations were plundered. The so-called "House of Aaron" has a two-storey street frontage that is essentially 12th century and a nearby "Jew's House" likewise bears witness to the Jewish population. In 1255, the affair called “The Libel of Lincoln” in which prominent Jews of Lincoln, accused of the ritual murder of a Christian boy ("Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln" in medieval folklore) were sent to the Tower of London and 18 were executed. The Jews were expelled en masse in 1290.

 

[nino_savatte]

a bit too sloaney at times....

I haven't been there for donkeys...

 

[nino_savatte]

I thought they drive Volvos.

Only in Stamford Hill.

 

[lang rabbie]

Back to SE26

I reckon the speaker must have been Joan Alcock, shortly after she finished her book - Sydenham and Forest Hill - history & guide ISBN 0752434063, which probably contains the answer.

Not definitive, but her book does contains a plausible reason for the name, which she had mentioned in her talk. To paraphrase...

It probably started as a reference to a path between elm trees that led to a former mansion called Westwood House (on the south side of Westwood Hil where Lewisham's Sheenewood estate is nowadays).

In the late eighteenth century, the occupant of the house was a city merchant, Mr Ximenez, whose family were part of the congregation of Bevis Marks (the Spanish and Portugese synagogue in the City).

Like his contemporary, Disraeli's father, Ximenez was actually a convert to Christianity, but commonly referred to a jew.

The current road, with its remaining gothic houses on one side, follows the line of the path, but wasn't laid out until the 1850s - following the opening of the London-Brighton Railway's station down the hill.

Edited to add: Don't buy it from Amazon - the book is available in the wonderful Kirkdale Bookshop 272 Kirkdale, Sydenham, London SE26 4RS - winners of the 'Best Customer Service' award in the Lewisham Business awards 2005 no less

 

[lang rabbie]

<Bumped>

LR goes off to grumble at shocking discourtesy of OP in not giving profuse thanks for finding his pressing question answered on return from foreign climes.

 

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

Bin/ban etc!!!



I wonder how often that happens in the London forum?

Most enlightening LR - is the Kirkdale bookshop the one opposite the Greyhound, kind of between the newsagent and the hardware store? If so, that's a fantastic little place.

 

[beeboo]

is the Kirkdale bookshop the one opposite the Greyhound, kind of between the newsagent and the hardware store? If so, that's a fantastic little place.

thats the one

 

[lang rabbie]

is the Kirkdale bookshop the one opposite the Greyhound, kind of between the newsagent and the hardware store?

It's the one with a bloody great big sign saying Kirkdale Bookshop

 

[Streathamite]

<Bumped>

LR goes off to grumble at shocking discourtesy of OP in not giving profuse thanks for finding his pressing question answered on return from foreign climes.

can't believe it! you missed a chance to bitch about swappies!
(DF = ex-swappie)