Archive by Author | Tony Belton
August 31, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, September 2025, Newsletter (# 195)

  1. OK, I know some of you think I can be a bit verbose; you are probably right. So, this month’s newsletter is going to be brief. Twenty odd years ago, I started writing a history of the London Borough of Wandsworth. In August I have been trying to finish it! I have done nothing else; I didn’t even attend those fun events in the Park – great shame. And Penny and I are going to spend the first two weeks of September editing it. Then it will just be a matter of getting it published; and what a relief that will be.
  2. I did fit in just a couple of other events. On 6th August, I met with other members of Northcote ward Labour Party to choose our candidates for next May’s Borough Election. They are Clare Fraser, who brings with her eight years of experience as a councillor, and her colleague from Tooting, John Heywood. We have now completed our selections across the borough, and have a great team eager to fight next May’s election.
  3. But of greater public significance I chaired Wandsworth’s 20th August Planning Applications Committee. This month there were three big applications, all of significance to Battersea. The first was for two ten-storey hotels next to the United States Embassy, between the Embassy and the Waitrose store on Nine Elms Lane. There is likely to be another couple of applications in the area in the next few months. Whether you like Nine Elms Lane as it has turned out, or not, there is no doubt that it is a relief to see it nearing completion, after 40 or so years of dereliction.
  4. The second application was, at long last, a realistic plan coming forward to proceed to develop both on the derelict site at the corner of Culvert and Battersea Park Roads – and in Dagnall Street. The main site is for student accommodation and the Dagnall Street one is for the sports hall/gym that the Harris School has been expecting for the last 20 years. At 18 storeys it is far too high for my taste, but I got out-voted on that issue years ago, when the Tories were in control – and once permission has been given, it cannot unfortunately be revoked. The key point is that this version looks like getting built – at last and the kids at Harris Academy will have a decent gym/sports hall.
  5. The third site is the rather difficult site between Armoury Way and the Wandsworth Gasworks site. The application is a large one, for over 400 student accommodation units, which I know is not to everyone’s taste. However, it is squeezed between Armoury Way, the traffic on Wandsworth’s one-way system, and the railway. S the site is not everyone’s ideal for family housing either. I think students will find the environment less difficult than mothers and babies – or even not to be genderists, fathers and babies. I attach some artists’ impressions, on the next page, – I know, they don’t show the site on a foggy/rainy day in November, but they are just what it might look like in June!
  6. Of course, there were a mass of events in the Park for the London Borough of Culture 2025, including the unfortunate demolition of the Park gate. But many of you will have your own experiences of all that and so I will not comment further. Except to say that the Council will insist a total restoration of the gate in all its old Victorian splendour, as soon as possible.
  7. On 30th August Pen and I went to a celebration in memory of Mark and Priscilla Cornwall-Jones. Mark and Prill, as we called them, were some people’s definition of an odd couple. Mark was a card-carrying member of the Tory party, who went to the Scottish moors and shot stag for some of his holidays; Priscilla was a card-carrying member of the Labour Party and a Labour councillor representing the then St. Mary Park ward from 1982-90. They met and socialised with both Thatcher and Blair Cabinet members. For twenty years after her death, Mark continued to pay her monthly contributions to the Battersea Labour Party – because he loved her and the memory of her. One day in 1968, Mark & Priscilla saw the classic Battersea, ‘us-and-them’ movie Up the Junction and were so moved by it, that they went home and in the front room of their Albert Bridge Road home, where August’s celebration took place, they devised a plan. So, with Mark’s financial skills and Priscilla’s commitment, Battersea Churches’ Housing Association was created (now Battersea and Chelsea).
  8. The lead organiser of the great and happy celebration was the oldest of the kids Kate, with her brothers Adam, Matthew and Jason all in attendance with assorted partners, children and grandchildren as well as a few politicos and church colleagues of Mark’s. For those of you, who may have known them Priscilla is in the front on the left of this 1980s picture with Mark at the back on the right. The others from l to r are (unbelievably) me, John Slater (Roehampton councillor), possibly Mrs Johnstone, Bill Johnstone (St, Mary Park councillor) and Penny.

My September Programme

  1. I have the Transport Committee on 18th September.
  2. The Labour councillors are having an Away Day on 20th. That will not be a grand corporate-style awayday in a 5-star hotel, but a hard-working preparation day for next May’s Borough election, held in a church hall – or similar local venue.
  3. I have the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) on the 25th,

Did you know?

Last month I asked, “Why the Dodd?” I didn’t know the answer to that one, so many thanks to Robert, an assiduous reader from Falconbrook. Robert says that “Henry Hart Davis (who has been described as a “persistent but hapless speculator-builder in Battersea during the 1840s”) owned land in Battersea Fields, including Doddington Lodge, which he named after his birthplace in Somerset. He went bankrupt in 1851 following the failure of the Crown Estate to pay compensation promptly for the land which was purchased from him”.

The public sector was then clearly irresponsible about its commercial obligations – not something anyone would say now. But on the other hand, was the Crown Estate trying its best at land assembly for what was to become Battersea Park? The timing is about right. 

Robert went on to say, “I suppose Doddington Lodge was somewhere in the area of the Doddington Estate.” If my surmise about the Park is right, then that is very possibly true.

And this month?

Last month was about the name of the Doddington Estate itself, but this month, can anyone add details about any of the other public names on the Dodd? What was Park Court South called before it was sold off by the council. Why Voltaire Court? Or Turpin House?  Why Charlotte Despard and Francis Chichester? Why any of the block names? I can have a stab at a few of those names but I look forward to your replies and hope to learn something new!

July 31, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, August 2025, Newsletter (# 194)

  1. I was walking through Wandsworth Town Centre on 7th July, with a few minutes to spare, and I decided to pop into Belton & Slade, the hardware shop, just yards away from the church. Over the years many people, especially councillors have asked me whether there was a family connection. I always said “No”, without ever knowing. So, I popped in and discovered a fabulous old-style store – stacked with hardware stock of all shapes and sizes, imperial and metric. It’s a treasure trove, which I wish I had known about in my DIY years. I introduced myself to the man in charge. I think he was a bit suspicious at first but fortunately I had my Council lanyard with me – he was/is Michael Belton. We had a brief conversation but unfortunately, there does not seem to be a family connection, which is strange as there are not many Beltons around. Anyway, here is Michael, standing proudly in his shop doorway.
  2. The next day, Penny and I went to Saragossa (Zaragoza) Spain. It was an interesting experience from at least 4 different standpoints. Firstly, we had a problem with my rash insistence to travel eco-consciously by train. Paris was the problem; going out road traffic chaos resulted in us missing our train from Gare Montparnasse to Biarritz. Hence, we lost a hotel booking and had to buy a second set of train tickets. And, on our return, our Metro train was stopped because some un-authorised person was on the tracks. We had to take a taxi to the Gare du Nord but missed our train.
  3. Secondly when we left a sweltering London at about 37C (high 80s), we feared the worst and sure enough Zaragoza was 41-42C (high 90s). I’m sorry to say I don’t think that I can manage the Mediterranean countries in the months of July and August any longer – unless on the Atlantic coast, which is where we were in San Sebastian (see photo) on one lovely day!
  4. But thirdly the conference itself was interesting and Penny’s presentation about the evolution of the handshake as a business and sporting symbol and as an egalitarian, demotic greeting, was well appreciated. And the social events around academic conferences are always entertaining, as indeed was this one.

  5. However, fourth my real interest was in exploring Zaragoza, which was far too hot most of the time. But I did get out early in the morning and explored a little of the old city. Founded by Augustus Caesar, it was captured by Islamic forces in 714 and not re-captured by Catholic forces until the early 12th century, when it became the capital of Aragon for three centuries before the capital of (now) Spain moved to Toledo and then Madrid. This complex history is fascinatingly illustrated in its public places where Islamic and Gothic/Catholic styles both clash and mingle – the picture is of the two cathedrals that dominate the city and the River Ebro – one of the cathedrals is built in the curtilage of the mosque it replaced. I am not sure that I agree with the Spanish proverb that “Africa starts at the Pyrenees”, but there is no doubt Spain really is very different from the rest of Europe – in challenging ways.

  6. On the 17th July I took Wandsworth’s new Chief Executive and his PA for a walk around the ward, finishing off in Battersea Park, at the café where we were joined by one of the locals, pictured here enjoying his “elevens”. We discussed:-

    The tiled roof of the Pagoda, which has reached the end of its lifespan and requires replacement. The Council is consulting with Japanese specialists and awaiting responses to initial enquiries. For health and safety reasons, the Pagoda has been fenced off until the works begin. A timeframe for these works is yet to be confirmed.

    The limited public toilet facilities in Battersea Park, at all times but specifically during the highly successful fun-runs. I have hopes that the CEO might seek funding from the Community Infrastructure Levy to fund additional toilets.

    The paving around the Royal College of Art. Unfortunately, the pavement works I highlighted last month are being revised again to address several challenges, including boundary level discrepancies, utility conflicts, and potentially unauthorised works by other frontagers. Subject to approval, the revised works are expected to commence in late August or early September.

  7. I chaired the Planning Applicatins Committee on the 23rd July. There were a couple of applications in Blenkarne and Thurleigh Roads, which were, of course, of great interest to the immedate neighbourhood but not of much to the rest of Battersea.
  8. The Council planted this two-year old sapling in my road, but it was listing about 15 degrees and in a dead, dry patch of earth. I rang the council’s tree helpline and it was staked and I added some of my not very well composted compost and now look at it – flourishing in its own street garden.
  9. Talking of adding colour to Battersea, watch for the work on the Falcon Road underpass of the railway lines. Work is starting right now – which we know will be a pain for bus passengers and all drivers, who can not avoid Falcon Road – but what a bonus it will be making that underpass bright, breezy and colourful.
  10. On the 31st July I went to Bridge Lane Clinic for a health check – everything seems to be in working order (kind of), but I noticed that the clinic has also bought into the let’s prettify Battersea philosophy, with this magnificent new mural of Chelsea Bridge and the Power Station.

My August Programme

  1. I have the Councillor’s surgery on 2nd August.
  2. The Northcote ward selection of Labour’s candidates for the Borough Election is on the 6th August, and
  3. the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) on the 20th, and that is all in what will be a quiet month.

Did you know?

Last month I asked, “How many pubs are there in Battersea named after members of the British aristocracy? And where are they located?” This proved to me how difficult it can be to ask questions, which everyone understands and interprets in the same way. So, I received answers, which included the Crown on Lavender Hill, and another which included Churchills on St. John’s Hill, which I had omitted – though Winston was, of course, descended from the Duke of Marlborough, and therefore an aristocrat. But, no one mentioned the Royal Standard in Ballentine Street, or the Queens Arms (St. Philips Street).

The answer that I was looking for was, the Duke of Cambridge (Battersea Bridge Road), the Duchess Belle (Battersea Park Road – opposite the Power Sation tube station), the Albert (Albert Bridge Road), the Victoria (at the junction of Silverthorne and Queenstown Roads), and the Churchill on St. John’s Hill. But what about the Bolingbroke (Northcote Road) – is that a pub or a wine bar? – he certainly was an aristocrat, and also lord of the manor of Battersea. Anyway, they are all worth a visit – so Cheers everyone.

And this month?

Someone last month asked me, “Why the Dodd?” I assume that is simply a chatty abbreviation but why the Doddington – does anyone know? And what about the other names on the Dodd – pictured here? Francis Chichester, Charlotte Despard, Lucas, Cromwell, Arthur, York, Kennard, Youngs, Bolton, Turpin, Park South? Most of them I guess are the names of councillors of the time, but does anyone have an interesting story about any of them?

July 2, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, July 2025, Newsletter (# 193)

  1. On the 7th I went to a Doddington roof garden summer social, where I met a few old friends and tried one or two home-made snacks. Whilst I was there, I had a chat with a team of firefighters from the Este Road fire station, for whom despite the nature of their job – travelling all around the area – the garden was a completely new and pleasurable experience. However, in the middle of chatting about the garden their buzzers sounded and they had to dash off to their fire engine! Dramatic.
  2. Four days later, I was in Parkgate Road visiting some constituents, when I noticed that work is at last taking place laying decent pavements around the block where the Royal College of Arts building stands. This has been outstanding for all of the last 4 years and I (and residents) have raised it with the Town Hall on what has seemed like a monthly basis. Good news!
  3. I went from Parkgate Road directly to one of the three Thrive gardens in Battersea Park. This charity helps people with disabilities to face mental and physical issues through the pleasure and relaxation of gardening. This was an occasion to meet their chief executive and show support for the charity. However, the gardens especially the one near the river, are well worth visiting in their own right – a great place to sit and think for 30 minutes or so.
  4. I had the Transport Committee on the 19th June. There were plenty of important items but not specifically of great interest to Battersea except for the important cycling facilities in both Queenstown Road and Nine Elms Lane. The cycle lanes are desperately needed, especially in the stretch between Battersea Park and Silverthorne Roads. I just hope that there is not too much interference with traffic during the implementation because it has certainly been difficult getting around in North Battersea this last month with hold ups in Falcon Road, York Road and on Battersea Bridge Road.
  5. I went to Merton to attend the North-East Surrey Crematorium Board on the 24th.  It was a mundane, uncontentious meeting quite unlike Sunday, the 29th, which was the selection meeting to vote for Labour’s three candidates for Battersea Park ward in next year’s Council Election. It was at least my twentieth such selection meeting, and, if you’re interested, it does not get less nerve-racking – indeed possibly the reverse. I am glad to say, however, that I was successful and, all other things being equal, my name with two colleagues will be on the ballot paper on May 7th 2026.

My July Programme

  1. I have the Finance Committee on 3rd July.
  2. I will be accompanying Penny on her business trip to Saragossa, Spain from 9th July to the 12th – I hope the current heatwave breaks before then!
  3. We have the Council Meeting on 16th July.
  4. There is the Conservation and Heritage Advisory Body on the 17th and the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) on the 23rd.

Did you know?

Last month I asked, if anyone recognised this corner? And what is there now? Only one of you tried but I am afraid she got it wrong.

Note the 1960s cars (and the almost empty streets!); but the give aways are the lift shafts sticking up alongside the cranes on the construction site of the Doddington Estate. This corner at the junction of Queenstown and Battersea Park Roads was completely cleared, a new left-turn lane added to the junction and the pavement widened. Immediately next to the corner is Turpin House, which is the end block of the Dodd(ington).
 
And this month?

Here’s a nice, easy one for any one with their eyes open as they travel around. How many pubs are there in Battersea named after members of the British aristocracy? And where are they located?

June 8, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, June 2025, Newsletter (# 192)

  1. On 3rd May, I had my regular surgery at Battersea Park Library. Only one couple, mother and daughter, came, and as is usual nowadays, the issue was about housing. In this case, the cause was family breakdown. It was a very serious problem, and I will certainly treat it as such. But is it efficient to run a surgery for just one case? Would the NHS keep surgeries open if they had only one patient? Surely, the NHS would find a better alternative. Shouldn’t we? So, what do you think about councillor surgeries? And would you ever go to one?
  2. On the 7th in the morning, I had a brief Zoom-style tour of the plans for the new Vivienne Westwood building in Elcho Street. The Elcho Street office is the centre of the business, with all the design work and much of the manufacturing done on site. The company is one of our largest and most successful exporters in the fashion trade. The company has exciting and ambitious plans both to expand and to rebuild their Elcho Street office/factory, shown in this picture, and to keep the business operating from the same Battersea HQ. Situated in the same block as the Royal College of Arts building, this corner of Battersea is one of London’s most dynamic design hubs. And with the Fosters architectural business also in Hester Road, Battersea Park ward must rank very, very high amongst the UK’s most important export centres. PS. In Elcho on 28th May, I see some preparation for construction work has already started!
  3. That same evening, I went to St. Anne’s Church and to the second public meeting of the Wandsworth Prison Improvement Campaign – WPIC. Once again, the attendance was impressive – 250 people, maybe – and the seriousness of their intent was very clear. A considerable number of the audience were parents of, or partners of, or actual ex-prisoners. There were many contributions from the floor, and they were, as ever, many comments and complaints about conditions in the prison. We heard about the health, drugs, and discipline issues as exposed by the recent very worrying Channel 4 documentary.
  4. However, I found the event a little worrying. In the last analysis, the main issue is, I think, quite simple. As a nation, we need either to imprison fewer people or spend more money keeping them there. If that is NOT a political issue, then I don’t know what is. But people at the meeting appeared to me to want to steer clear of politics – currently and stupidly the dirtiest word in the language – but, let me repeat, if the solution to Britain’s current prison crisis is not a political one, then I wish someone would explain to me what it is. Meanwhile, I strongly support Putney MP, Fleur Anderson (the prison is in Putney but virtually on the boundary with Battersea) and the Council in their efforts to improve the conditions in the prison.
  5. On the 20th May, I had the Planning Applications Committee (PAC). After the excitement of last month’s Glassmills decision, this was a quiet and calm occasion, with the most significant decision being to support the Council’s plan to create a pocket park in Allfarthing Lane. I make no excuse for posting this picture again to remind readers about the Glassmills application, that we refused last month. In the last week of May, it was announced that Mayor Sadiq Khan and the GLA have decided NOT to oppose Wandsworth’s decision – great news, indeed.
  6. We had the annual Mayor-Making Council Meeting on 21st. The new Mayor is Councillor Jeremy Ambache, a popular choice on both sides of the Council. In this picture at his inauguration, he is accompanied by his choice as Deputy Mayor, Tory Councillor Rosemary Birchall. Jeremy was popular in his first mayoral year of 2022-23, and we are all confident that he will do a great job again.
  7. On the 27th June, I went to Wembley with a group of 14 Wimbledon AFC supporters to see the Football League 2 Play-Off Final. Wimbledon beat Walsall 1-0. It was not one of the better Wembley Finals, but it was nevertheless greeted with enthusiasm by the winning team, pictured here with the cup. With at least five councillors, Critchard, Henderson, Hogg, White and me in the crowd, it is definitely the councillors’ team. Talking soccer – what a fortnight for locals, with Wimbledon and Chelsea, both grounds within a quarter of a mile from the Borough boundary, winning major trophies and near neighbours Palace winning the Cup. And my team, Spurs, winning a major European trophy – what a fortnight for local soccer fans!
  8. One of my Newsletter’s readers sent me this picture taken from a room in Price’s Court, on York Road. He tells me that the building manager says these excavations are of the Bishop’s Palace that existed on the site in Elizabethan times. I knew about the palace, but nothing about these excavations, and so it was a surprise to me. I am making a couple of enquiries, and hopefully I will know more about it next month.

 My June Programme

  1. I will be at the Doddington Garden Party on the 7th.
  2. I hope to be at the re-launch of the Thrive Garden in Battersea Park on June 11th. The Thrive Garden is operated by a charity that uses gardening as a therapeutic resource for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, it is also on the same day as a Design Review Panel looking at the reconstruction of the Meadbank Care Home, and I also would like to attend that, so we will have to see how the timing works out.
  3. The June meeting of the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) is on the 26th.
  4. I am not sure how the rest of June will pan out, as it will be the first month of a new and hopefully more democratic and open way of working at the Council. But most Labour councillors and candidates will be on tenterhooks as we try to win selection as the party’s candidates for the Borough Elections in May 2026. If you are a Labour Party member keen to take part in this process, let me know at tonybelton99@gmail.com, and I will tell you when and where your candidate selection date will be.

Did you know?

Last month I asked, “In the fifty-odd years that I have lived in Battersea, the junction of Falcon Road and Battersea High Street, of York Road and Battersea Park Road, has had two popular names. Do you know either or both of those names? 

The ‘real’ answer was known by a dozen of you. It was the Prince’s Head, the name of the old Victorian pub that used to stand on the south-west corner where the Kambala Estate was built in the seventies. It was so well known that the 19 bus used its name as a destination point, as you can see from this photo taken in Islington, showing its destination as Battersea, Prince’s Head.

The second answer as only one reader knew, was Jonjax Corner, which some might say is a bit of a cheat, as Jonjax Corner was named after a shop based in the ground floor of this building, actually on the corner of Winders Road and Battersea Park Road. The Jonjax shop was a classical, typical old Battersea shop of knick-knacks and useful gadgets – very iconic but unfortunately long since closed.

And this month?

Another corner as it used to be in Battersea. Did you know it? Where was it? And what is there now?

May 2, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, May 2025, Newsletter (# 191)

  1. On 3rd-7th April, we went to Essen, once the heart of Germany’s iron and steel industrial base in the Ruhr valley. Now it is known for its green transformation. We were there so that Penny could give a keynote talk on the Handshake at an international conference of European social historians.
  2. These conferences are great fun. Historians in general are a social bunch, and hence the evening entertainments are usually convivial and friendly. And fortunately, nearly all the formal sessions are conducted in English – there was one French session that I ducked out of. There is very little in the study of history, which is technically obscure, and so I like to think I play the role of an intelligent observer.
  3. The transition from being the home of the Krupp-owned Nazi armaments industry to, it is claimed, the greenest province of today’s Germany is spectacularly on show at the Zollverein Museum, based in a massive, closed colliery – see picture. The museum told the story of the area’s transition from a Victorian-era industrial magnet for immigrant workers from the countryside and from Eastern Europe, through its Nazi past using slave and PoW labour, through to the Germany of today – fantastic.
  4. We went by train and on our way back stopped off for a few hours to see Cologne cathedral. That too is on a colossal scale as I have tried to capture in this photograph of its spectacular nave. One thing that surprised me though was that, despite all the work done to modernise Germany and to recover from both the war and the demise of heavy industry, nothing has been done to clean up the exterior of the cathedral, which looks as black and filthy as St. Paul’s looked 30 years ago.
  5. On the 11th April, I attended Brian Reilly’s retirement drinks at the Town Hall. Brian was Wandsworth’s Chief Executive, who had also previously been the long-serving Director of Housing. He brought a robust common sense and practical drive to the job, especially as the Director, where his commitment to the successful provision of public housing was obvious to all. Well done, Brian, and I know you will enjoy your retirement – PS he will be in Sicily by the time you read this newsletter.
  6. Off to the Boat Race, on 20th Wandsworth’s Mayor always hosts a charity event in one of the boathouses on the Thames riverside – after all the boatrace does start in the Borough. But it can be a bit dispiriting for me! I have been a Dark Blue ever since I was at Oxford as an undergraduate, and this year like in most years, we were on the losing side. Still the Deputy Mayor, Finna Ayres, on the left, I and the Mayor, Councillor Jafri, managed to enjoy the occasion.
  7. On the 24th April, I had the Planning Applications Committee (PAC), where the main decision excited a lot of media coverage, especially in The Telegraph, which featured it for three consecutive days. The application was to build a 28/29 storey tower on the riverside at Battersea Bridge, as illustrated here. The application, known as the Glassmills, was for 110 residential units, 50% of which would have been at social rent levels, for a riverside restaurant and an improved riverside walk, plus a couple of gyms. The application was rejected unanimously, and although readers of The Telegraph might find this difficult to believe, none of the committee members were lobbied by either Mick Jagger or Eric Clapton, or even by Felicity Kendall, despite The Telegraph’s encouragement to so believe. PAC decided on the merits of the case.
  8. On 26th April we were off to Battersea Park, to take part in the first event of Wandsworth’s London Borough of Culture (LBOC) Year – Strictly Wandsworth – and great fun it was too, even if difficult to photograph. This pic shows the milling crowd, with dancers in the middle distance! Twenty plus Wandsworth dance groups took part in the show from ballet to break dancing, from St. Marys’ Royal School of Dance to Battersea Park’s own Baked Bean group. Marvellous! We look forward to a year of culture.
  9. Finally, on 22nd and 29th April, the Labour Group held its two-part Annual Meeting and Simon Hogg was re-elected as Leader to take the Labour councillors right through this Council from May 2022 to May 2026. Simon and I and another 60+ aspiring Labour councillors are also starting our re-selection process in the build-up to the election on the 7th May 2026. Assuming I get selected to stand again in Battersea Park, it will be my 15th election – certainly a record in Wandsworth!
  10. On the way home from the Strictly Wandsworth event it was encouraging to see that work is at long last racing ahead on the provision of a pavement for the long-suffering pedestrians of Elcho Street! Dare I say it, but the pressure, from both residents and myself, is finally bearing fruit.

My May Programme

  1. I have my surgery in Battersea Park Library on 3rd May at 11 am.
  2. The Conservation and Heritage Advisory Committee meets on 6th May
  3. I hope to go to the Ethelburga Tower Residents Association AGM on the 15th.
  4. The May meeting of the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) is on the 20th.
  5. And on the 21st we have the Annual Meeting of the Council, which is when the next year’s Mayor is elected.

Did you know?

Last month I asked, “What is unique about this particular wall? And where is it? And why? And what is it called?

Once again, I am afraid that you were not very interested or perhaps not very knowledgeable about it. The answer is that it is called the Ballast Wall and it can be found in Enable’s main depot in Battersea Park.

It was built in the 1850s, during Battersea Park’s construction. The 1850s was at the height of British power when London was by far the largest port in the world. One problem that the port authorities had was “What to do with all the ballast brought in by the merchant marine?” At the same time the designers of Battersea Park needed hard core as a base for some of the work being done in the marshes being converted to Battersea Park – so here was a solution to two problems, which leaves us all with the puzzle of guessing the geographical origins of individual stones.

And this month?

In the sixty-odd years that I have lived in Battersea, the junction of Falcon Road and Battersea High Street, of York Road and Battersea Park Road, has had at least two popular names – a bit like Tooting’s Amen Corner. Do you know either or both of those names?

April 9, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, April 2025, Newsletter (# 190)

  1. The Council Meeting on 5th March confirmed the long-discussed Council Tax freeze, already agreed at Committee level. The somewhat academic discussion centred on when a freeze is a freeze and when it is not. I doubt whether the public is as interested in the finer points of the argument as leading councillors are. What I am sure residents are interested in is that Wandsworth is now the only Council in the country where the standard Band D Council Tax (the gold standard) is below £1,000 a year, only just perhaps but definitely below £1,000.
  2. On the 6th March, I attended the North-East Surrey Crematorium Board’s quarterly meeting at Sutton Town Hall. The main discussion this quarter was whether we should spend potentially £1/4 million on providing separate pedestrian access along the main access to the Crematorium. I do not think that the clash between car traffic and pedestrians is a major feature of cemetery concerns in the UK today – see picture! For aesthetic as well as for financial reasons, I was opposed – a real Clochmerle story if ever there was one. (If you haven’t heard of Clochmerle, then let me tell you it was a comedy novel about French rural small-town politics by a man called Gabriel Chevallier, which centred on the location of the town’s proposed new public lavatories. It’s an amusing read, and I am rather afraid that I might be at the centre of a similar story!)
  3. Off to the Renaissance Hotel, St. Pancras, on 14th March for the very classy launch of Penny’s latest (of six) book, called Time-Space We are all in it together. (She says that it has to be Time-Space and not Space-Time because that would be a physicist’s book and not a historian’s!) The picture is of me introducing the author to the audience, which, although not obvious from this scene, was over 100 strong. It was a great evening, enjoyed by all.
  4. On the 21st March, I joined our MP, Marsha de Cordova, and the local police team on a walk-about on the Doddington Estate. The main focus of our concerns were drug-dealing criminals, but we were also concerned about fly-tipping and problems with damp and mould. Marsha is really good at these walk-about events; chatty, welcoming and friendly to all passersby. We left having plenty of practical issues to follow up.
  5. On the morning of the 24th March, the members of the Planning Applications Committee went for a site visit to the Wandsworth Gasworks site. It is a large, derelict, noxious, industrial ruin of a site, covered with gas pipes, concrete, scrap metal and the detritus of a century of heavy industry. The water in the picture is NOT the Wandle but the drowned, very deep, very large foundations of the old gasometer.
  6. And two days later on the 26th, I chaired (pictured centre, along with Nick Calder, the head of planning development and the clerk) the Planning Applications Committee, where the main decision to resolve was the application for the development of the Gasworks site. The choice we were presented with was to accept the current application or leave the site as it is now and wait for some hypothetical future application, which would need to be as viable in financial terms as the current application, but also better in policy terms. Better in policy terms would, in reality, have to mean more than 40% affordable housing and/or less than 29 storeys of height. But we are where we are with a dangerous, toxic, empty, under-used site so we accepted the application by 6 votes to 3. One possible beneficiary of a much-improved site was this heron spotted in the Wandle Estuary foreshore.
  7. Between these two occasions, on the 25th, I had the Conservation and Heritage Advisory Committee largely uneventful and business-like. And then on the 29th Penny and I decided to have a day in Weymouth. For those, who don’t know the town, it is well worth a day return from Clapham Junction, with a delightful harbour, a really, great very long, sandy beach, good very British food next to the harbour – my fisherman’s pie was terrific – if it had been a hundred miles away in Normandy/Brittany we’d have been raving about French cuisine!
  8. The Borough’s March highlights:
    • In the last year, Wandsworth has recycled an extra 5,000 tons – the equivalent weight of 400 double-decker buses.
    • The next phase of the Cleaner Borough Plan starts soon, including additional bins in town centres, jet washing and more regular sweeping of high streets, as well as clearing fly-tips on private land not owned by the council.
    • Wandsworth has the biggest bike hangar programme of any local authority in London. Residents told us that more safe storage would make it easier for them to cycle, so we’re installing another 120 hangars around the borough, taking the total to almost 350. 
    • Wandsworth has helped secure thousands of pounds in Attendance Allowance through our campaign to sign up eligible residents. This benefit, for pension-age residents who need regular support, is not provided automatically by the government, so we’ve used data from the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) platform to target a campaign at those who should benefit. Since the start of our campaign, £230,000 has been put in their pockets, and they will be set to receive an extra £1.5m over the lifetime of the claims. We will also investigate ways to support disabled residents who may be impacted by proposed reductions in their support

My April Programme

  1. On the 3rd April, we are off on Eurostar to Brussels, Cologne and Essen, Germamy, for a history conference, where Penny is giving the Keynote speech and we will be staying for three days. We will take the opportunity to visit Cologne Cathedral, one of the great European cathedrals and which neither of us has previously visited.
  2. I have the Wandsworth Town Together event on the 11th. I have not been to this before,but it looks like a great celebration of the Borough’s youth.
  3. The April meeting of the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) is on the 24th.
  4. The official launch of the Wandsworth Borough of Culture Year takes place with the Strictly Wandsworth event in Battersea Park on 26th April.

Did you know?

Last month I asked, “Do you know where Leo lives and why did he settle there?”

I am afraid that you clearly were not very interested but Roy did point out quite correctly that I had asked that once before and the answer is simply Macduff Road, off Battersea Park Road, but neither of us knows exactly who put him there or why.

And this month?

So, ok it’s a wall. It is not a Roman wall or a last remaining Medieval London wall? But what is unique about this particular wall? And where is it? And why? And what is it called?  

March 3, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, March 2025, Newsletter (# 189)

  1. I had a councillor’s surgery on 1st. As usual, people had problems with their housing, but the most serious issue was the threat of violence, drug dealing and intimidation on one of our estates. Fortunately, the police were due to have a raid on that particular estate, and I was able to add some “urgency” to their efforts. Some arrests were made, but I have it on the authority of the tenants that the problem is not yet over. The police, the Housing Department and I will be keeping an eye on developments.
  2. In the afternoon, I went to Plough Lane to see high-flying, promotion-chasing AFC Wimbledon win a tough battle 1-0 against rivals Bradford City. AFC’s win moved them up to second place in Division 2 – given Spurs recent history of erratic performances, I was almost thinking of switching allegiance! Not really but …
  3. The full Council Meeting on 5th February was “enlivened” by a walk-out of the 23-strong group of Tory councillors. I did it once myself when leading the then 25-strong Labour Group – 1979 or 80. But that was over a real issue on an urgent timeline. The curious feature of this Tory walk-out was that it was about a consultation, not a decision. The result was that a whole 2 or 3 months of Council business was passed without a single Tory vote, comment, or observation – truly pathetic. The next day I came across two Tory councillors, Emmeline Owens on the left and Kim Caddy, working out on Wandsworth Common, with their personal trainer. Good for them but they should have a word with their Leader about pointless gestures.
  4. The next evening, the 6th, I had the Transport Committee, where the major consideration was the Council’s decision to increase the budget on road and pavement maintenance by some 400%. Labour Wandsworth recognises that we must tackle the scourges of dangerous pavements and costly and dangerous potholes.
  5. On the 12th, I met with the Battersea Fields Residents’ Association. We discussed a range of issues affecting the estate, from the trivial but annoying confusions caused by poor signage; to the state of the paving, and the need or otherwise for large-scale pruning of the estate trees. It was the first time that I had been to a meeting of that kind conducted online; strange but quite effective. Again – lots of issues to follow up.
  6. The Environment Committee met on the 13th to consider many items but, for my money, the most important related to climate change. The Council will be investing millions in insulating buildings and switching to the most environmentally sustainable fuels. I suggested that we must also spend more time and effort encouraging the private sector – the owner-occupier, the shop-owner, the publican – to do more. Currently, almost half of Wandsworth’s heat loss and pollution comes not from traffic, commerce or industry but from domestic homes.
  7. The 14th was a bit special. As you may have noticed, it was St. Valentine’s Day, and as it happens, the umpteenth (where umpteen is well over 50) anniversary of when Pen and I met, at a friend’s 21st. He and his girlfriend, now wife, and two other couples, who were there all those years ago, all met for a celebratory dinner on this 14th. Quite an achievement – 4 couples who got together 61 years back and are both together, and in touch. On the way Penny and I stopped off at the Courtauld Gallery. It is housed in Somerset House, pictured here and in itself is well worth a visit. And, in addition, its display of French Impressionists, Degas, Cezanne, et al., is as fine as anywhere in the world outside of Paris – and is also well worth a visit.
  8. On the 17th February, Simon Hogg, Labour Leader of Wandsworth Council, announced that the council’s take on Council Tax was frozen for the third year in a row. Is that a record? I am not certain, but I suspect that it is. It is certainly a measure of the financial prudence and the innovative policies we have introduced to Wandsworth Council’s operations – at the same time as relieving over 10,000 of our most financially challenged families from having to pay the tax at all and having the largest Covid Relief fund in London.
  9. I had a couple of meetings last month with a voluntary organisation, which is based in the Wilditch Centre, Culvert Road, and called The Baked Bean Charity. It is an organisation with 30 employees devoted to providing educational, social and training skills to a client group of about 160 largely but not exclusively Wandsworth residents, who are faced with learning difficulties. I have supported their grant applications, successfully, a couple of times in the past, but never before had such an in-depth session with them. It is a splendid organisation, full of warmth and caring.
  10. The Jobs Vacant section. The organisation, which once had a competition amongst its clients as to what it should be called, hence the Baked Beans moniker, is looking for a volunteer Treasurer. It has a turnover of £1 million plus, so it is not insignificant, but, as you might have guessed, all the staff have qualifications in speech therapy, social work, the performing arts and similar. They are conscious that they are not strong on the business and financial side of the operation, although it looked pretty good to me. I think that being their volunteer treasurer would be a great job for anyone local, who wishes to contribute to a worthy organisation and could spare/relish spending a couple of days a month doing something very worthwhile. If that is you, then please do email me at tonybelton99@gmail.com and I will put you in touch.
  11. On the 20th we were off to the Linnean Society, Piccadilly, to hear old friend Prof Brycchan Carey’s launch of his new book The Unnatural Trade: Naturalists and the Slave Trade.  He gave a fascinating lecture on the slave trade and its connection to the European/American industrialisation of the sugar/cotton/tea plantations of the Caribbean and neighbouring parts of both North and South America. It was both witty and deadly serious, stimulating and challenging, but the most amazing parallel becoming obvious from his story was its similarity to this month’s headline story about the Trump/Putin alliance to colonise and exploit Ukrainian resources – WOW.
  12. As for the Linnean Society itself, it was founded in 1788 as a botanical society and has a wonderful collection of botanical books, pictures, and samples, collected by many of its members, the most famous of whom was Charles Darwin. It is housed in Burlington House, a fabulous eighteenth-century mansion in Piccadilly best known for housing the Royal Academy. The Society’s collections, possibly the oldest and most important botanical collections in the world, are open to visitors. I thought I knew my London tourist sites well – but not this one, which should be on everyone’s list of things to see and do.
  13. On the 21st, Penny had a launch at Waterstone’s in Clapham Junction of her new book Time – Space We Are All In It Together. Here, she is autographing the book whilst friends are chatting amongst themselves.
  14. On the 25th the Council launched Wandsworth, the London Borough of Culture 2025. It took place in the splendid Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre – pictured here just before it started filling up. The event was buzzy and vibrant, noisy and brash. It was a great launch for the year, which officially starts on 1st. Hopefully, the year will be inclusive both of high- and low-brow, and of both high and popular culture – though what high and low means when used about brows and culture, I am blowed if I know. Mozart, after all, was both the composer of what we call classical music and the rock star of his generation.
  15. The February meeting of the Planning Applications Committee followed the next day on the 26th and was both uneventful and unremarkable but for the fact that I have had some 30 emails since congratulating us all for the considered, thoughtful and mature debate we had – oh and how well chaired it was, which, as I chaired it, has given me a little ego boost!
  16. On the 28th we went to All Souls College, Oxford, to have lunch with the Warden and for Penny to speak at the launch of a book, called, Christopher Hill, the life of a Radical Historian, by Mike Braddick. Christopher, the famous, some might say infamous, Marxist Professor of History, and Master of Balliol was Penny’s uncle. Here, she is holding the book and starting her contribution.

My March Programme

  1. I have the Council Meeting on 5th March, when the Council Tax for the year 2025/26 is officially confirmed.
  2. I have the North-East Surrey Crematorium Board at Sutton Council on the 11
  3. The Conservation and Heritage Advisory Committee meets on the 26th, followed on the 27th by the March meeting of the Planning Applications Committee (PAC). This will probably be the most significant PAC of the year. We will have the responsibility of deciding the fate of two major applications. One will be the application to build a 28-storey iconic tower block at the base of Battersea Bridge and the other larger, but not quite so high, blocks of flats on the old Wandsworth Gasworks site, near to Armoury Way.

Did you know?

Last month I simply asked, “Who was Mick Carney and in what way has he left his mark on Battersea?

As Roy pointed out to me from a simple read of the newsletter, Mick Carney was the inspiration behind much of the work of the Carney’s Community Youth Club, hence the name. He also inspired the Fitzroy Boxing Club, Vauxhall, who were well represented at the Carney event I featured last month.

He was from up north, Chester-le-Street, but spent much of his life in the Lambeth/Battersea area. He fought over 80 pro bouts, not from what I can see very successfully – looks like a less than 50% record. He is not on the record for saying very much other than that his career led him to respect everybody that he had ever fought. He sounds like a true gent, with a strong civic and community focus. He was appointed an MBE by the late Queen.

And this month?

This lion enjoys a life of domestic bliss. He’s been at his quiet suburban home since the very height of Empire. He has certainly seen many changes in the UK’s role in the world and, rather alarmingly, he is soon likely to see further changes, thanks to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Do you know where he lives and why he settled there?

January 2, 2025  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, January 2025, Newsletter (# 187)

  1. I had the quarterly meeting of the North-East Surrey Crematorium Board on 3rd December – pretty routine stuff.
  2. On 11th December, we had the last Council Meeting of the year. It was not a glorious occasion; indeed, it was quite the opposite. Years ago, before Committees were opened to the public (1971), the Council Meeting served the real purpose of informing the press and the public of Council decisions and the policy arguments behind them. But since the committees have been opened to the public and more particularly since the Leader and Cabinet structure was introduced, the decisions have all been made and announced well before the Council Meeting. As a result, all that is left for Council Meetings is the politics – the worst side of politics, the show and the point-scoring, not the debate nor the complexities. All councillors need to reflect on how that Council Meeting looked to anyone actually watching. The question remains, “Whither Council Meetings?”
  3. December’s meeting of the Planning Applications Committee was on the 12 It was a dramatic evening, posing many of the issues facing both the Labour Government and the Labour Council. There were a dozen significant applications, mostly in Putney, but at the centre of the evening was a debate about 3 applications to build nearly 100 “council houses” (flats, of course) in and on the Ashburton Estate, Putney.
    • The three ward councillors, 2 Tory and 1 Labour, gave presentations against the schemes. They acknowledged that we need to build more affordable homes; they all agreed that the plans were for good, well-designed flats; but they all agreed that they just did not want them in the Ashburton Estate.
    • This stance was particularly difficult for Labour’s Councillor Ambache, who found himself in the awkward position where his constituency interests were in conflict with his wider, societal beliefs. It was a difficult argument to sustain but he did it well.
    • At one level, the opposition could be seen as simple nimbyism; but at another level, it reflected an understandable concern that one of the pleasantest estates in the Borough should not be ruined.
    • There was a full public gallery, prepared to heckle and harry the Committee members. But in general, the public was respectful and considered in opposition. After a serious debate – and perhaps unsurprisingly – the plans for the new flats were approved by 6 Labour votes against four Tory ones.
  1. Much of the rest of the month was standard stuff, Christmas Carols, eating and drinking too much – you know Xmas. However, on the 23rd I went to Battersea’s Picture3 (250x191)Cats & Dogs Home to pick up my Xmas present to Penny. And here are the kittens, Sammy and Sally. They are delightful and haven’t yet started ruining the furniture.
  2. To mark the end of the year, I wish to note a few bits of really, really good news for Battersea. The first is about one of the nastiest places in Battersea:Picture4 (250x171)Falcon Road tunnel under the mainline rail tracks at Clapham Junction. I have occasionally got the bus just to avoid walking along that bit of Falcon Road. But now, we have a Labour Council which has invested in a competition to get rid of this eyesore and health hazard. By the end of 2025, we could have something as attractive as this picture, used by the competition winners, GPAD, POoR Collective, whose plans included involving young people, residents and community groups.
  3. Do you ever have need to walk along Howie Street or Elcho Street (pictured) or even Parkgate Road? If you do, then you will know what it is like walking along a narrow road in competition with the 49 bus and reasonably heavy traffic but without any decent Picture5 (250x145)pavement. I have been trying to get something done about this problem since my ward included the area in 2022, so imagine my delight when just before Xmas I got a letter from the Council, saying “that they plan to start works early in the new year on the 6th January … with the intention to complete by the summer.” I know for many people living in the area this will be a great relief. What with the derelict site in Elcho Street, and the threat of developments in Ransome’s Dock and at Glassmills, the area often feels like Battersea in the blitz rather than in 2025, so it will mean something if there are at least some pavements to walk on!
  4. You will all have noticed that York Road has recently been fully re-opened after years constructing the Tideway Tunnel, the picture shows the scale of a section ofPicture6 the tunnel lining – see the man in high viz trousers. The impact on traffic has been enormous and must have cost all road users many more millions than the stated billions that the Tunnel cost to construct. But the Tunnel, built as a giant overflow to ease the pressure on London’s nineteenth-century sewage system. is now functioning and in December it was announced that on just one day recently it “captured nearly 850,000 tonnes of sewage,” which otherwise would have been discharged into the Thames. The work is not quite completed, but soon we will have taken a major step on the way to cleaning up our River Thames.
  5. What do you know about the Wimbledon Foundation Picture7and its contribution to Battersea? Not much, is my guess, so I thought that you might be interested to know that this organisation, essentially funded by the Wimbledon Tennis fortnight, awarded £711,000 in grants and donations to 73 organisations within Wandsworth over the last year alone such as:-
    • five projects in the Borough supporting the mental health and wellbeing of some of the most in-need communities in Wandsworth.
    • core funding to charities helping to combat homelessness locally. More than 22,000 people experiencing homelessness in Merton and Wandsworth have been supported by this fund since its launch in 2019.
    • supporting Wandsworth’s Borough of Culture year when it starts in April.
  1. Congratulations to the residents of Kelmscott Road, off the Northcote Road just south of Wakehurst! Picture8 (300x144)They win my personal prize for the most dazzling, inclusive Xmas display of the year – it has clearly involved the whole street and must have taken quite some time and effort to set up. I guess that you have until the 5th January to jump on a 319 or G1 and take a butchers.
  2. And then on the 31st, we went to the National Gallery to see the Van Gogh It was brilliant, comprehensive and very crowded – really Picture11rather too many people there to make ideal viewing, but it was packed with many of the old favourites such as the sunflowers, the chair, the bedroom and the portraits, though probably the majority of the paintings were of the French countryside, like this famous one.
  3. After seeing the Exhibition, we went for a walk around the West End to see the lights and the normal hustle and bustle of town. It was extremely lively and very busy. A notable feature, for the most part, is just how traffic-free the area is now. The Big Smoke, as London used to be known, has certainly become a cleaner place with air notably fresher than some small towns I have been to recently – with one result being this new kind of seasonally decorated rickshaw rank.Picture13

My January Programme

  1. I am invited to the Ethelburga Tower AGM & Festive celebrations on the 9th.
  2. The January meeting of the Planning Applications Committee is on the 14th.
  3. The Battersea Park Safer Neighbourhood Committee meets on the 21st January and, apparently, I have nothing else – a quiet month.

Did you know?Picture10

Last month I simply asked, “Born in Cheltenham, became a Bachelor of Medicine at St. George’s Hospital, met his wife in Caius House, Battersea, where he did missionary work in the worst of Battersea slums, has a plaque in Battersea Square. He died, a peculiarly British heroic death 10,000 miles from home and he looked like this. Who was he?”

I got the following reply, so comprehensive that it’s worth quoting fully, from Chris:             “This will be Dr. Edward Wilson (1872-1912) who trained at St George’s (at the Lanesborough) and from 1896 lodged at Caius House, a settlement in Battersea associated with his Cambridge college and where he became a “settler”. In addition to his continuing part 2 studies he did mission work with local children. He contracted tuberculosis… but at least he met his wife to be. The plaque is at 42 Vicarage Crescent. This was the Vicarage, but the settlement is in Holman Street.

Whilst recovering Wilson worked on his other talents developing his drawing and eventually watercolourist as well as his skills as an observational naturalist and ornithologist. He eventually recovered sufficiently to qualify in his part 2 exams and in 1900 was offered the post of Junior Surgeon and Vertebrate Zoologist for the forthcoming British National Antarctic Expedition – Scott’s first.

The expedition was a great success, not least due to Wilson’s magnificent visual record. On his return, he enjoyed a further 5 years working on 2 zoological surveys and an epidemic commission but time was increasingly taken up by planning for Scott’s 2nd (fatal) expedition. Wilson was in charge of all science and medicine. He was among the 5 who made the final push to the pole which they reached on 17 January 1912”.

Congratulations to Chris and the half a dozen of you who got this one right.

And this month?Picture9

Has anyone other than me, ever seen the 1964 British film The Guns of Batasi? It was a typically quality British film, starring great actors of the period such as Jack Hawkins, Richard Attenborough and Flora Robson, about the violent demise of Empire in Kenya. I saw the film at the time and recall an impression that the title’s Batasi was a play on Battersea. But now I have found the evidence. Can anyone name the book, and play, which inspired the film?

PS. If you need to get rid of a loved Xmas tree, the Council will collect it from your front garden, or normal bin spot on your normal bin collection date in the week commencing 6th January.

PPS. Last, but by no means least, congratulations to Sadiq Khan for his knighthood announced in the New Year’s Honours. For all the mentions of his father’s occupation and his Mayoral record, it is seldom noted that he was also a Wandsworth councillor from 1990-2006 and indeed was Deputy Leader and, as I recall, Labour’s speaker on planning for some years. Well done, Sir Sadiq!

December 2, 2024  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea December 2024, Newsletter (# 186)

  1. I didn’t feel too hot on 1st November, so I gave Junction Jazz at the Bread & Roses a miss (I gather the band was good), but did feel well enough on the 2nd to go to the Councillors’ Surgery at Battersea Park Library. Saturday mornings at the surgery can be a very peaceful time, simply reading the papers, but not this time. As usual, the cases were about housing issues, about wanting a transfer or the conditions in rental properties. It can be depressing listening, but I do follow them up and, from time to time, really do resolve the problems.
  2. I discovered one victory this month quite by chance. I was doing my normal monthly tour of the Picture1ward, including a walk Picture2down Anhalt Road, a quiet road near the Park. On my last visit there I came across this trip hazard on the left, created by an aggressive tree root. Now the Council has doctored the tree and re-surfaced the pavement and it is no longer the very serious hazard it was. A small triumph perhaps but mine own!
  3. On 4th November I had a Battersea United Charities (BUC) meeting at the main Battersea Library. Nothing particularly momentous happened but it is worth noting the existence of this small body, which distributes small grants to individuals and/or organisations that live, work or play in Battersea. For example, BUC gives financial assistance to other charities that organise Xmas Day Dinners; or to Providence House to help fund summer schemes for Battersea’s younger people; or to families that have hit hard times and who need carpets, furniture, ovens, fridges, etc. The Chair of BUC is Phil Beddows, once a Tory councillor, but don’t hold that against him too much. For a long time now Philip has been a passionate Battersea boy and has given hours of his time to the charity.
  4. On 5th November I did not go to a fireworks display but went Picture3instead to Wandsworth Council’s Civic Awards. At this annual event, the Council praises and appreciates people, who have contributed their time and efforts to support the community. The Labour administration has added some new features, such as video descriptions of the award winners at work rather than the previous over-long reading of their commendations. One of the stars of the evening was Gonçalo da Cal Martins, Wandsworth’s Young Musician of the Year 2024, who played a beautiful violin concerto.
  5. I went to the Armistice Day Commemoration ServicePicture4 in St. Mary’s on Sunday 10th November, and then on the 11th itself, I went to the service in Battersea Park. I always find the open-air service the more moving of the two. The late autumn weather is very appropriate and the sound of the lone bugle playing The Last Post followed by Reveille almost haunting. The only blemish, of course, is that the Park was right under the day’s flight path into Heathrow! The picture is of our MP, Marsha de Cordova, walking away from the monument having just laid a wreath.
  6. Pen was due to present a paper at a small conference in Antwerp on 14th-15th November, so I decided, more or less at the last minute, to Picture5accompany her. We stayed in the centre of the city from 13th-17th. It was magnificent. Why has everyone kept so quiet about Antwerp? It is certainly the largest city within easy reach of London that I have never been to, and it is only just over 4 hours away, from door to door, by Eurostar. The city centre is substantially traffic free, so it is a pedestrians’ delight and the trams work like a dream. It is very lively, and very cosmopolitan. Belgium’s colonial record was not good – to say the least – and Belgians are very conscious of that, but one result is that it has made Antwerp a culinary delight. It includes African, Caribbean and Indo-Malaysian food of every kind and, of course, some say that the best French cuisine is actually Belgian. Added to that, the many museums and art galleries are replete with works by the three Breughels, Reubens, Van Dyck, and countless other Flemish masters. We had a great time – Oh, and Pen said the conference wasn’t bad either (which is English for a great success). The picture shows part of the Grote Markt.
  7. The Transport Committee on 19th November was quiet and uncontentious but full of interesting matters, not least the extended hours of operation of the controlled parking zone (CPZ) around Battersea Park. The residents had campaigned for the extended hours since before the opening of the Power Station, but that had been the final straw. Other matters of interest were:-
  • The competition to design the transformation of the Falcon Road railway bridge – probably the worst environment in the Borough – which effectively cuts north Battersea off from Clapham Junction and will hopefully be completed by late 2025;
  • more new school streets; and
  • amendments to the Borough Plan designed to encourage the development of more affordable housing.
  1. I chaired the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) on 20th We approved five applications:-
  • three, which in total amounted to some 50 residential units, as part of our 1,000 homes project – odd how it is that everyone thinks that we ought to build more homes at affordable prices but no one wants them built next door – am I being cynical, or jaundiced?
  • one, which involves the total demolition of a terraced Battersea house – except the front wall – and the construction of a modern house in its place. No one on the committee liked it but one does not need permission to demolish property unless it is either listed or in a conservation area – and we could hardly refuse permission for replacing it with a modern version.
  • the fifth was a technical change to a previous planning approval.
  1. Prezza, aka John Prescott, died on 21st November, and with him, some people argue, an old-style Labour brand. I do not know about that, but I do have one very clear memory of him. I was sitting at home one Saturday afternoon watching one of the autumn rugby internationals. The year was 1997 and Labour had stormed into power on 1st May.

    I was the Leader of Wandsworth Labour councillors and had recently written an angry letter to John, the Deputy Prime Minister, protesting that he had recently walked around Battersea Park with Wandsworth’s Tory leadership without informing anyone in Wandsworth’s Labour Party, and that despite John making improved communications between the Government and Labour councillors a major theme. I didn’t expect anything other than a formal civil service acknowledgement.

    The phone rang, “on my way to Heathrow and the Kyoto climate change conference”, John spat out, “thought I’d give you a ring about the Battersea Park event”. I was so surprised that I do not recall the rest of the conversation, but I do remember that I could not make sense of the syntax, nor of some of his sentences. But I do remember the meaning, the apology, and the thought that Prezza made a point of ringing me, whilst he was on the way to being a prime mover at one of the world’s most important ever conferences.

    I much appreciated the thought then and have done ever more so since.

  2. Picture7The 22nd of November was the night of the Battersea Ball held in the Battersea Park British Genius site. This is always a noisy, showy, fun event, held to fund the Battersea Summer Scheme for Battersea youth. Pen and I usually go, and often get caught pretending to be training for Strictly!
  3. Picture8I have just heard of the death of Battersea Labour Party member, Timothy West, earlier in November. Timothy and Prunella have been substantial supporters of BLP for many years and have played their part in several revues that BLP staged at Battersea Arts Centre. I will say more about Tim in next month’s newsletter, meanwhile RIP Tim.
  4. And other news about Battersea and Wandsworth:
  • The Council plans to update the Latchmere Estate playspace and is asking users and residents to get involved in its design. Do get in touch if you are interested.
  • Battersea Park Rotary asked me to remind pensioners about Rotary’s Xmas Day special – contact Senia Dedic (seniadedic@hotmail.com) for details.

My December Programme

  1. I have a meeting of North-East Surrey Crematorium Board on 3rd The members are the London Boroughs of Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth, so it should more accurately be called the South-West London Crem.
  2. On 5th December, I am having Xmas Lunch with the soccer team I played with in the 60s-80s – always nostalgic, “remember that goal Prodg scored” days.
  3. On 11th December, we have the last full Council Meeting of the year.
  4. December’s meeting of the Planning Applications Committee is on the 12th and much of the rest of the month is standard stuff, Christmas Carols, eating and drinking too much. I hope that you have a great Christmas too.

Did you know?

Last month I asked who was “an Irish Protestant dramatist, clearlyPicture9 torn between both his Irish and British heritages in that he was at once an Irish Republican and a British patriot, this socialist born in North Dublin spent many of his later years in Prince of Wales Drive, Battersea. Who was he and can you name his most famous play, and even one other of his works?”

Not quite do many correct answers as about Bob Marley and Spurs, but some knew about Sean O’Casey and his most famous play Juno and the Paycock. There is a plaque on the wall of 49 Overstrand Mansions, Prince of Wales Mansions.

And this month?Picture10

Born in Cheltenham, became a Bachelor of Medicine at St. George’s Hospital, met his wife in Caius House, Battersea, where he did missionary work in the worst of Battersea slums, has a plaque in Battersea Square. He died, a peculiarly British heroic death 10,000 miles from home and he looked like this. Who was he?

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