The first Marks & Spencer in London - in a pokey Brixton railway arch!

[Minnie_the_Minx]

always put the post code into google maps

Well I didn't know the postcode of the Brixton M&S so I just stuck Station Road in

 

[Orang Utan]

you know it's SW9 though - you're supposed to be an expert at these things

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

you know it's SW9 though - you're supposed to be an expert at these things

How am I supposed to be an expert at these things. The internet's all new to me. You know I can't handle technical stuff


*remembers that I have to buy a new modem. Sobs at the thought of how complicated it is*

 

[editor]

I think I've cracked it. It looks like the did change the numbering system, so the arch numbers topped where they used to carry on past the station entrance. Based on that, I think I've got a photo of the actual M&S premises which I'll post up later.

 

[editor]

Here's the updated shop image:

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I think I've cracked it. It looks like the did change the numbering system, so the arch numbers topped where they used to carry on past the station entrance. Based on that, I think I've got a photo of the actual M&S premises which I'll post up later.

How did you figure out they changed the numbering system though?

 

[Oswaldtwistle]

According to good ole Wiki, M and S started in Leeds,in 1884, so they would already have been a nationwide chain at this point.

It does seem an odd choice for a location for a first London store, although they may have only had a shoestring budget.

Just out of interest, how do you know for sure it was the first London store?

 

[editor]

How did you figure out they changed the numbering system though?

I carried on counting from where the arch numbers ran out. The new photo makes more sense as it's exactly where the footbridge to the old station used to be, so I'm pretty confident it's the right location.

Osawldthistle: source here - http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark&id=8829

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

According to good ole Wiki, M and S started in Leeds,in 1884, so they would already have been a nationwide chain at this point.

It does seem an odd choice for a location for a first London store, although they may have only had a shoestring budget.

Just out of interest, how do you know for sure it was the first London store?

Because there's records that says it was the first London store

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Mentioned here (1903)

http://www.storyoflondon.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=209

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Also mentioned here as a "railway arch of considerable depth"

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...s7GXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9

 

[Oswaldtwistle]

A couple of final thoughts on this- *we* think of this as a grubby, backstreet location, but would it have been considered so in 1903 I wonder? Did Brixton have a tube link then, or would this have been the main point of entry?

 

[ajdown]

A couple of final thoughts on this- *we* think of this as a grubby, backstreet location, but would it have been considered so in 1903 I wonder? Did Brixton have a tube link then, or would this have been the main point of entry?

The Victoria Line didn't arrive till 1971.

 

[editor]

A couple of final thoughts on this- *we* think of this as a grubby, backstreet location, but would it have been considered so in 1903 I wonder? Did Brixton have a tube link then, or would this have been the main point of entry?

I've never suggested that it was 'grubby' but being stuck in a railway arch under a footbridge is not what I'd call a prime Brixton shopping location.

 

[Jonti]

Actually, it's not such a bad choice, if a lot of people came out of the station down those stairs.

I don't know, but I'm wondering if the stairs led to the now closed platform, that would've brought folks in from Clapham Junction way.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

A couple of final thoughts on this- *we* think of this as a grubby, backstreet location, but would it have been considered so in 1903 I wonder? Did Brixton have a tube link then, or would this have been the main point of entry?

Brixton was very well-to-do decades back

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

I've never suggested that it was 'grubby' but being stuck in a railway arch under a footbridge is not what I'd call a prime Brixton shopping location.

Your fault I'm so knackered today. Took me ages to get to sleep last night thinking about that Conservative Club

 

[teuchter]

Actually, it's not such a bad choice, if a lot of people came out of the station down those stairs.

I don't know, but I'm wondering if the stairs led to the now closed platform, that would've brought folks in from Clapham Junction way.

From link in OP:

To the right, you can see part of the footbridge leading up to the London & South Western Railway platforms, which provided a direct rail link to Peckham.

 

[teuchter]

I don't know how to post links for this, but there's some urinals I never knew about on page 17 of this document

http://www.liv.ac.uk/precinct/march06/March06_Precinct.pdf

In the background of that picture, I think, are the coal staithes mentioned in this thread:

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=297121

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Editor

You might like. It's the premises that were in the current Marks & Spencer location before they moved there

http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark&id=8828

 

[editor]

Editor

You might like. It's the premises that were in the current Marks & Spencer location before they moved there

http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark&id=8828

Already done and dusted!

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/brixtonroad6.html


*edit: although I'll do a proper feature using those photos soon.

 

[PacificOcean]

*puts hand up*

The first Sainsbury's was in a shop on Clapham Road near the Oval station*

*Is it still Clapham Road that far up?

My mate leased a shop there and was told it was the original Sainsbury's.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Already done and dusted!

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/brixtonroad6.html


*edit: although I'll do a proper feature using those photos soon.

Well I'm buggered if I'm going through your whole site again to see what's there and what's not. You'll jst have to put up with me posting info up you already have

 

[Jonti]

Actually, it's not such a bad choice, if a lot of people came out of the station down those stairs.

I don't know, but I'm wondering if the stairs led to the now closed platform, that would've brought folks in from Clapham Junction way.

From link in OP:

To the right, you can see part of the footbridge leading up to the London & South Western Railway platforms, which provided a direct rail link to Peckham.

[/QUOTE]Yeah, I saw that, I was wondering where it went after Brixton. There's three railway bridges cross Popes Road, and it's all a bit confusing. But it looks as if that line from Peckham merges into the line running into Victoria.

 

[teuchter]

Yeah, I saw that, I was wondering where it went after Brixton. There's three railway bridges cross Popes Road, and it's all a bit confusing. But it looks as if that line from Peckham merges into the line running into Victoria.

West of Brixton, up till somewhere around Clapham High St / Wandsworth Rd stations there are four tracks. One (the northernmost) pair goes to Victoria but no platforms at any of the intermediate stops. Victoria-Brixton-Herne Hill services use these, and the lowermost bridge of the two that cross each other over Popes Rd.

The southermost pair also go to Victoria but through the platforms at CHS and WR. Victoria-Denmark Hill-Peckham trains use these, and the uppermost bridge of the two that cross each other over Popes Rd. Freight trains also use this route, and they diverge after Wandsworth Rd towards Clapham Junction and eventually Kensington Olympia and northwards.

The other bridge over Popes Rd, the one at the N end, carries a pair of tracks that link from the Brixton-Victoria-without-stops route to the Peckham line eastwards. I don't think any passsenger trains use this now but the old platforms were on this bit I think.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Silly question to ask the Editor but have you got a picture of Littlewoods?

 

[King Biscuit Time]

Wasn't the original Sainsbury's on Drury Lane?

 

[PacificOcean]

Wasn't the original Sainsbury's on Drury Lane?

Not according to the leaseholder of a shop on Clapham Road

 

[PacificOcean]

Silly question to ask the Editor but have you got a picture of Littlewoods?

Look at the size of his truncheon!

Oo-err missus, etc.

 

[lang rabbie]

I don't know how to post links for this, but there's some urinals I never knew about on page 17 of this document

http://www.liv.ac.uk/precinct/march06/March06_Precinct.pdf

Extraordinary, it appears that the photo has been sitting in the National Archives at Kew as part of the court record of a 1932 trial for gross indecency