Camberwell ……. Clapham and faraway Chorlton-cum-Hardy

When I was growing up in Peckham, Camberwell was just a tad too far for an adventure, and by the time we moved to Well Hall, there were plenty of other places to distract me.

But now, after a decade of retirement and living in the North, my thoughts have returned to Camberwell which as a kid always seemed a notch above Lausanne Road.

And as you do I went looking for images, starting with that wonderful collection of old postcards on the Tuck DB site, which is dedicated to celebrating the picture postcards of Tuck & Sons.*

There are quite a few, but I was drawn to this one which featured a picture of Whitlock’s who sold clothes and had six branches across Camberwell, Brixton and Clapham.

This one was the shop on Clapham High Street, and the annual sale has generated quite an interest, with the staff posing for the camera.

And as you do I went looking for number 46 and while I can identify the site, the building behind the shop has been altered, and numbers 48, 46 and 44 are now occupied by a restaurant.

I haven’t yet researched Whitlock’s, but I know that by 1918 all three premises had been taken over by Richard Williams Ltd, Drapery, leaving me to ponder whether the Great War had something to do with their demise.

Still, in 1905 when the picture postcard was sent the firm appears to be doing well, and just possibly the staff may have finished their day with a visit to the Temperance Billiard Hall which is directly opposite but long ago changed its use.

The design of the halls is quite iconic and examples can be found across Greater Manchester. and no doubt pretty much everywhere.

They were built by The Temperance Billiard Hall Co Ltd which had been founded in 1906 and was based at 3 Ford Lane in Pendleton.

Now, the hall opposite our shop is almost identical to the one in the painting, and while the one above is now a pub, the Clapham hall is home to an architect firm called , Moxley.

In time I will go looking for more London temperance halls but for now will finish with that Whitelock shop, which must have been pleased at the crowd outside the door.

Leaving me just to say I did get to Camberwell sometime around 1959 or 60, played on the swings, and those wooden and iron hoses in a recreation ground, before making the long walk back to Lausanne Road.

Location; Clapham

Picture; 46 High Street Clapham, 1905, from Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/  

Painting, Sedge Lynn, formerly a Temperance snooker hall, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, © Peter Topping 2011 http://www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

*Tuck DB, https://tuckdb.org/