The Secret Life of Streets (BBC Two)

[Caliban]

On the common??

On the contrary!!

[Anna]

Another Dan Cruikshank programme tonight 9pm BBC4 (following on from his very interesting one last week in which we learned all about carrots and hotbeds) He explores the mysteries and secrets of the bridges that have made London what is: stories of bronze-age relics emerging from the Vauxhall shore; why London Bridge was falling down; midnight corpses splashing beneath Waterloo Bridge, and London's bridgebuilders themselves.

[Caliban]

Another Dan Cruikshank programme tonight 9pm BBC4 (following on from his very interesting one last week in which we learned all about carrots and hotbeds) He explores the mysteries and secrets of the bridges that have made London what is: stories of bronze-age relics emerging from the Vauxhall shore; why London Bridge was falling down; midnight corpses splashing beneath Waterloo Bridge, and London's bridgebuilders themselves.

Part way through watching

I thought the opening contention that for Dan, London "is Europe's greatest city" was a bit distracting and unnecessary... I love London but...

But eclipsed by the fascinating detail e.g. about the 3500 year old Bronze age bridge piles at Vauxhall!! Quite amazing!

[Anna]

But eclipsed by the fascinating detail e.g. about the 3500 year old Bronze age bridge piles at Vauxhall!! Quite amazing!

It was indeed an interesting programme even though Mr. Cruikshank's style of delivery takes a little getting used to ....... Not sure if anyone else has seen it or caught up with the latest Streets programme because of the endless football.

However, going back to Streets and the conservation issue. I've been going through the addresses where my London branch of the family lived and was hearted to see this about the Pullens Buildings: They are some of the last Victorian tenement buildings surviving in London. In the Walworth, Newington area, they are near Elephant and Castle and Kennington Underground stations. Located in Amelia Street, Crampton Street, Iliffe Street, Penton Place and Peacock Street, they are protected by Conservation Area status granted by Southwark Council.

Some were damaged by bombs in WW2 and some fell into disrepair and were demolished. In the 1970s, the council planned to demolish all the buildings but were stopped in the 1980s by an alliance of tenants and squatters under the umbrella of the residents' association who campaigned and fought successfully to save them. Think how much more of London could have been saved from the souless planners by people joining together! They are 4 storey terraces originally built as, and retained as, flats and those in private ownership are selling for around £300,000. Not that price makes a jot of difference, they are lovely (ok, not as beautiful or elegant as the Georgian ones in Camberwell Grove) and it's somehow a really nice feeling to look at them and think of my family living there, coming and going and children playing in the street (yes, I know, that's soppy and sentimental) I tried to find a photo link to post but google only turns up flickr which don't allow copy and pasting, but anyone can find the photos. Edit: it seems some of The Kings Speech was filmed there.

[Caliban]

I shall read your post with interest Anna but let me just paste the link I found otherwise I shall forget to....

For London-nostalgia fanciers, there is a new series starting next week (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings at various times): LONDON ON FILM - "portraits of different areas of London as seen through the eyes of film-makers", we are told, using "a rich mix of archive footage"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jzq75

[Caliban]

Pullens Buildings:... it's somehow a really nice feeling to look at them and think of my family living there, coming and going and children playing in the street (yes, I know, that's soppy and sentimental) I tried to find a photo link to post but google only turns up flickr which don't allow copy and pasting, but anyone can find the photos. Edit: it seems some of The Kings Speech was filmed there.

These the ones, Anna? http://afroml.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09...buildings.html

[Anna]

These the ones, Anna? http://afroml.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09...buildings.html

Street name, second one down, Penton Place was were they were. Other branch of family lived round the corner, Peacock Street (not so much of that exists) but can be seen via google street. And to think, they may have been turned into some sort of Aylesbury Estate and become slums!!! Cannot find at mo but Charles Booth wrote about James Pullen (who, incidentally, erected them without planning permission)

[Caliban]

Street name, second one down, Penton Place was were they were. Other branch of family lived round the corner, Peacock Street (not so much of that exists) but can be seen via google street. And to think, they may have been turned into some sort of Aylesbury Estate and become slums!!! Cannot find at mo but Charles Booth wrote about James Pullen (who, incidentally, erected them without planning permission)

Wonderful.

The thing to strike me about that second photo is how that entrance with an immediate staircase to the right is exactly like the 'staircases' one sees in all the older Oxbridge colleges - obviously the standard tenement / communal living configuration for centuries...

I also love the photo of the old Clements & Co shopfront.

[Anna]

Wonderful.
The thing to strike me about that second photo is how that entrance with an immediate staircase to the right is exactly like the 'staircases' one sees in all the older Oxbridge colleges - obviously the standard tenement / communal living configuration for centuries...

Yes, of course, I forgot to mention. How foolish of me! All my ancestors were rusticated from Oxbridge, they fled to Southwark to seek refuge in the staircases which were full of memories and to become drapers and millinery assistants.......

[Caliban]

Yes, of course, I forgot to mention. How foolish of me! All my ancestors were rusticated from Oxbridge, they fled to Southwark to seek refuge in the staircases which were full of memories and to become drapers and millinery assistants.......