Maureen Larkin died on 4th January, aged 89. Amazingly she died in the very house, in Knowsley Road, where she was born on 10th October 1932. Her daughter, Terry, wrote to me, saying that her mother and I “did go back a long way together, and Mum was thrilled and honoured to receive her Civic Award in 2010 following your nomination”.
When I first met Maureen she was part of the organising team for the legendary Poyntz Road Triangle summer street parties. She was the first to invite the Mayor and to arrange for the presence of police cars and s fire engine – all very popular with the local kids.
The first of these parties was, Terry tells me, organised for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and it continues to this day, 45 years later. The parties always had a barbecue, and plenty of party grub and they always ended with a disco.
Maureen’s Battersea connection runs deep. Her mother, Lily, moved into the house in Knowsley Road during the First World War. She and her husband, a Battersea man of course, had two daughters, Monica and Maureen. Maureen was born upstairs in the front bedroom.
Eighty-nine years later, Terry writes, “she died peacefully in her sleep where she always wanted to be, in the same house, with her daughter and granddaughter by her side”.
Terry reminds me that the Poyntz Road Triangle, between the two bridges on Latchmere Road and the railway lines, was threatened with demolition for a time in the 1970s. She claims it was for slum clearance but in Sue Demont’s very informative article in the current issue of Battersea Matters, there is a very different version of the story, a version which accords with my memory. Sue’s very informative map shows that Abercrombie Street and Knowsley Road were absolutely on the line of the Government’s planned Ringway 1 – all part of the giant Motorway Box planned for London in the 60s. The road plans were the cause of many, many political arguments and campaigns until well into the 80s.
Indeed, for everyone interested in anything to do with Battersea and its history this edition of Battersea Matters (Jan 2022) is spectacularly good: beg, borrow or steal a copy to read about: Battersea’s lesser-known parks; St Mary’s Cemetery on Bolingbroke Grove; the infamous 1907 Brown Dog Riots; my obituary of Brian Barnes; and many other titbits.
On 14thJanuary, I had a guided tour ofBattersea Power Station. It was the first time I’d been there for a detailed visit for about a year. Inside the Power Station itself, there are some spectacular sights, such as the two main turbine halls and the command room. We can expect a grand opening of the Power Station, for public access, later this year, when the expectation is that it will become, overnight, one of the Borough’s six town centres. There will be many, including me, who think it a tragedy that so little attempt was made to make the development more affordable for ordinary people; but I urge everyone to take a trip to the Power Station for the opening or soon thereafter.
This newsletter is unusually focused on literary events and one I have to include is the publication of my partner’s book, The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th Century Britain. I must say it has had spectacularly good reviews, the pithiest being in, of all places, the Daily Mail, where the age of the Georgians was said to have “Splendid houses…shame about the teeth: The Georgians had terrible hygiene, but beautiful architecture”. To be fair to the Georgians they had just discovered cheap and plentiful cane sugar … and more controversially were getting rich on African slavery – you can read more about all that and more in Penny’s book – blatant plug!
The January edition of Private Eye also has a Wandsworth/Battersea story about the Council’s £60,000 cut in grant to Battersea Arts Centre. The Eyegot at least some of the story from a speech, which I made in a Council meeting in December and the Eye concluded that the Council “tried to camouflage its decision with weasel words, claiming that this isn’t a funding cut but a ‘change in strategy”, and who am I to argue with the Eye?I must say that I admire the Eye’s capacity for information gathering. I did not report this small item of Council business but someone did.
The Planning Applications Committee on 25th January really was a non-event as far as Battersea was concerned! There were, in fact, three Battersea applications – but only about varying the details on previously agreed applications. One was the large residential development on the site of the old gasometer next to the Dogs’ Home; another on the shop development where the Prince of Wales pub used to be; and the third about air conditioning units at the Chesterton Centre – a committee for the specialists!
On Friday 28th Penny and I finally decided to break our Covid-induced lockdown and went to the Clapham Picturehouse to see Kenneth Branagh’s film Belfast. I had read one review, which described it as a nostalgic trip down memory lane, in tribute to the city he loved. I was particularly interested as I have a mild acquaintance with Belfast and Ulster and we have friends who live there. I must say, though that the reviewer cannot have seen the film we saw. It was dark, even the cinematography was dark (it was in black and white). I am not sure that the sun came out at any time during the film; more significantly it explored a brutal gang culture but not about drug money or gambling or prostitution, but between two distortions of Catholicism and Protestantism, or in the local jargon between the Micks and the Prods. It is a great film but not exactly fun and thrills for a Friday night. If you have seen it, what do you think?
On Saturday, 29thJanuary, Wandsworth LabourLeader, Simon Hogg, launched Labour’s Borough Election Campaign, 2022. The launch took place in King George’s Park and was attended by about 100 people. The picture shows London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, with the Borough MPs, Tooting’s Rosena Allin-Khan and Putney’s Fleur Anderson clearly amused by the point Battersea’s Marsha de Cordova is making. It was a good session – energising for all our candidates.
The following day Penny and I went to Ham Land, on the Thames Bank between Kingston and Richmond. I have lived in this area of London for most of my life but had never before been there! This small column marks the inner boundary of the Port of London Authority’s territory: the sea boundary is at Leigh-on-Sea. Because Ham Land is cut off by the bend of the river and Richmond Park – and because there is no bridge across the river, except the pedestrian crossing at Teddington Lock – Ham Land is, for London, quiet, deserted, and attractive. I recommend it for anyone who wants to avoid the crowds in Richmond Park!
Finally, it was a shock to hear of the death of Robert Moltenoon 31stJanuary, especially given his relative youth and his apparent good health. Many will know of Robert’s work in making our streets safer; about his campaigning on behalf of better public transport, and more consideration for pedestrians and cyclists. Robert was always so concerned and involved in Battersea life; he was also courteous, determined and optimistic; he will be much missed.
My Programme for February
There is a Council Meeting on 2nd February, of which a little more next month.
I hope to be at a Battersea Society presentation on Whistleron 9th Whistler was an American painter (1834-1903), who spent most of his life in the UK. He was, I suppose, an impressionist. He spent much of his time in Chelsea, from where he painted many Thames-scapes and pictures of Battersea Bridge, like this one. It should be fascinating.
There is a Labour Shadow Cabinet on 10th February, which will be interesting given the proximity of the Borough Election on May 5th.
The Planning Applications Committee will be on 22nd.
The Strategic Planning and Transportation Committee is on 24th February, which will be good for me as it will be the first time, I have been on one of the main working committees of the council for a few years.
Did you Know?
Last month I asked, what do you think was the first thing we did immediately on taking control of Wandsworth Council to defy the then Education Secretary, “Margaret Thatcher Milk-Snatcher”? Actually quite a few of you did know that, along with a sizable group of other Labour local authorities, we decided to provide free school milk out of the Council’s own resources. Given the very tight central government controls on local spending, it would be much more difficult to do that today!
And this month?
How many of you recognise this lion and can place him in Battersea? I don’t know what he is doing there or indeed why? He is at about hip level and he is in a very normal, even average, Battersea terrace street. Can you name the street and house number, where Leo lives? And better still does anyone know how and when he got there? I don’t know that.
Happy New Year. I hope that you hada great Xmas though I wouldn’t mind betting that it was one of the quietest that you have ever had. Mine certainly was! Penny and I watched old film favourites like Some like it Hot and had some nice walks in the park and on the common: this is Wandsworth Common after the inevitable and remorseless rain.
On 2nd December I went up to town for the first time since forever, to have a Xmas get-together with my old soccer mates. We played in the 60s and 70s. I was what we then called an inside right. I relied on pace, over 10 yards, stamina and a good reading of the game. I can only recall two goals I ever scored from outside the goal area, and, believe it or not, one of those was a header! There were about 15 of us – a party of septuagenerians and octogenerians – really wild.
I had a meeting of the North-East Surrey Crematorium Board on 7th December at Sutton Town Hall. You will not be surprised to hear that in this Covid year the income from cremations is higher than had been estimated. However, the extra income has enabled the Board to invest in two air purifiers for the two ovens – perhaps an extreme version of just how clouds can have silver linings. The Crem will be one of the first in the UK to be so equipped – though, of course, they are standard in Sweden; a further example of how Scandinavian eco-standards are so much higher than ours.
You may recall from last month’s newsletter that Labour won the Bedford by-election by just one vote. Consequently, it was no surprise that the Wandsworth Labour Party was in turbulent mood. What, however, was surprising is the speed and decisive nature of the councillors’ response. We, Labour councillors, quickly concluded that it was too much to expect one person to be both the Leader of Labour members on the Greater London Assembly and the Leader of Labour councillors on Wandsworth Council. And, so on 12th December, we elected Simon Hogg as Leader of Wandsworth’s Labour councillors.
I had two major regrets in December, and they were missing the party/celebrations of Robert Musgrave’s retirement from Providence House and Donna Barham’s from the Kambala Residents Association. Robert has been the inspiration and lynchpin of Providence House, surely the largest and most successful youth club in Battersea; whilst Donna (second from left in this Kambala party) has created the Residents Association and the Kambala Cares catering group. Unfortunately, both events took place in mid-December, just as the latest phase of Covid struck, and by then I had decided to be super-cautious.
I did, however, venture out very cautiously to play chess for Surrey County against Essex – it may sound grand but it was at a fairly low grade. My grade is much lower than when I was at school but then I was in practice, which I am not now. So I was pretty pleased when I recovered from a poor opening (a pawn down) to offer my opponent a draw, which he accepted. However, when later reviewing the game, I realised that I had manoeuvred myself into a winning position – how really annoying! Especially as Surrey lost by one point and it could have been a draw!
The full Council Meeting was held on 15th I made a speech about the Council cutting its funding of the Battersea Arts Centre by £60,000. It was the first speech I’d made in Council since the Borough Election 3.5 years ago! That sounds as though I have not been doing my job as a councillor, but that has been pretty well inevitable given the reduction in the number and length of Council Meetings and the restrictions brought in because of Covid. There really is a democratic deficit opening up in local government!
On 16th December I was at the December Planning Applications Committee. It was strange being at a meeting, with the participants separated from each other by plastic barriers – rather like the way we are all separated from the bus driver. (Why won’t the Government allow us to run these meetings online? We have the technology and the public health case is made by all, including the Government). The agenda was also strange. It marked the inexorable march of giant blocks from Vauxhall into Battersea – this time a 21 storey block in Yelverton Road, more or less where the Chopper pub used to be 10 years ago. I seem to be the only councillor consistently voting against tower blocks at a time when I know many (most?) of the public dislike them. The picture is of the Vauxhall (east end) of the Wandsworth Road, by the Nine Elms Sainsbury’s.
I spent some of today (31/12/21) reviewing the last year and some of the stories I have covered in this newsletter this year. They included Trump’s assault on American democracy; the notorious Sky Pool pictured here and visible from Nine Elms Lane (if you look closely you can just make out a swimmer a quarter across from the right); me being stuck in a lift in Sporle Court; the new homes built in the Winstanley Regeneration; and the XR protests about it; Zoom meetings; and growing concerns about the climate crisis; and of course COVID. Quite a year.
I have written an appreciation (see https://tonybelton.wordpress.com/) of Brian Barnes (20/8/44-28/11/21), the painter, for the Battersea Society magazine Battersea Matters. One reader said that I was generous and that “Tony and Brian didn’t always see eye to eye (putting it mildly!)” We certainly did not see eye to eye, nor were his political achievements anything other than minimal. But he certainly did create some great street art with much community engagement.
My Programme for January
Given omicron, it is probably rash to predict any future appointments, beyond a couple of days, but I think I can guarantee that the January Planning Applications Committee will be on 25th.
It is also pretty safe to say that we councillors will be gearing up for the Council’s election on 5th May – now a mere four months and a few days away.
22nd January is the publication day for Penny’s great book on The Georgians (or very roughly eighteenth-century Britain, including Ireland, Scotland and Wales and not just England). It is being published by Yale University Press and it certainly looks impressive.
Did you Know?
Last month I asked, whether any of you knew what was on the site of Foxton’s, next to the Battersea Arts Centre, in the 1940s. A few of you knew that it was the magnificently impressive Shakespeare Theatre. This picture is from approximately 1920.
And this month?
When I was first elected in May 1971, what do you think was the first thing we did immediately on taking control of Wandsworth Council to defy the then Education Secretary, “Margaret Thatcher Milk-Snatcher”?
Amazingly she died in the very house, in Knowsley Road, where she was born on 10th October 1932. Her daughter, Terry, wrote to me, saying that her mother and I “did go back a long way together, and Mum was thrilled and honoured to receive her Civic Award in 2010 following your nomination”.
Battersea Power Station. It was the first time I’d been there for a detailed visit for about a year. Inside the Power Station itself, there are some spectacular sights, such as the two main turbine halls and the command room. We can expect a grand opening of the Power Station, for public access, later this year, when the expectation is that it will become, overnight, one of the Borough’s six town centres. There will be many, including me, who think it a tragedy that so little attempt was made to make the development more affordable for ordinary people; but I urge everyone to take a trip to the Power Station for the opening or soon thereafter.
This newsletter is unusually focused on literary events and one I have to include is the publication of my partner’s book, The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th Century Britain. I must say it has had spectacularly good reviews, the pithiest being in, of all places, the Daily Mail, where the age of the Georgians was said to have “Splendid houses…shame about the teeth: The Georgians had terrible hygiene, but beautiful architecture”. To be fair to the Georgians they had just discovered cheap and plentiful cane sugar … and more controversially were getting rich on African slavery – you can read more about all that and more in Penny’s book – blatant plug!
Leader, Simon Hogg, launched Labour’s Borough Election Campaign, 2022. The launch took place in King George’s Park and was attended by about 100 people. The picture shows London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, with the Borough MPs, Tooting’s Rosena Allin-Khan and Putney’s Fleur Anderson clearly amused by the point Battersea’s Marsha de Cordova is making. It was a good session – energising for all our candidates.
the Thames Bank between Kingston and Richmond. I have lived in this area of London for most of my life but had never before been there! This small column marks the inner boundary of the Port of London Authority’s territory: the sea boundary is at Leigh-on-Sea. Because Ham Land is cut off by the bend of the river and Richmond Park – and because there is no bridge across the river, except the pedestrian crossing at Teddington Lock – Ham Land is, for London, quiet, deserted, and attractive. I recommend it for anyone who wants to avoid the crowds in Richmond Park!
on Whistler on 9th Whistler was an American painter (1834-1903), who spent most of his life in the UK. He was, I suppose, an impressionist. He spent much of his time in Chelsea, from where he painted many Thames-scapes and pictures of Battersea Bridge, like this one. It should be fascinating.
group of other Labour local authorities, we decided to provide free school milk out of the Council’s own resources. Given the very tight central government controls on local spending, it would be much more difficult to do that today!
a great Xmas though I wouldn’t mind betting that it was one of the quietest that you have ever had. Mine certainly was! Penny and I watched old film favourites like Some like it Hot and had some nice walks in the park and on the common: this is Wandsworth Common after the inevitable and remorseless rain.
won the Bedford by-election by just one vote. Consequently, it was no surprise that the Wandsworth Labour Party was in turbulent mood. What, however, was surprising is the speed and decisive nature of the councillors’ response. We, Labour councillors, quickly concluded that it was too much to expect one person to be both the Leader of Labour members on the Greater London Assembly and the Leader of Labour councillors on Wandsworth Council. And, so on 12th December, we elected Simon Hogg as Leader of Wandsworth’s Labour councillors.
Applications Committee. It was strange being at a meeting, with the participants separated from each other by plastic barriers – rather like the way we are all separated from the bus driver. (Why won’t the Government allow us to run these meetings online? We have the technology and the public health case is made by all, including the Government). The agenda was also strange. It marked the inexorable march of giant blocks from Vauxhall into Battersea – this time a 21 storey block in Yelverton Road, more or less where the Chopper pub used to be 10 years ago. I seem to be the only councillor consistently voting against tower blocks at a time when I know many (most?) of the public dislike them. The picture is of the Vauxhall (east end) of the Wandsworth Road, by the Nine Elms Sainsbury’s.
and some of the stories I have covered in this newsletter this year. They included Trump’s assault on American democracy; the notorious Sky Pool pictured here and visible from Nine Elms Lane (if you look closely you can just make out a swimmer a quarter across from the right); me being stuck in a lift in Sporle Court; the new homes built in the Winstanley Regeneration; and the XR protests about it; Zoom meetings; and growing concerns about the climate crisis; and of course COVID. Quite a year.
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 