Rye Lane in the 1950s

[Girl82]

My god - how did it all go so wrong? :(

http://www.francisfrith.com/peckham/photos/rye-lane-c1955_p289001/

[DulwichFox]

I was 3 years old then...

I remember it all very well.

Changed in the 80's after Jones and Higgins was pulled down.

Fox.

[DJKillaQueen]

It could have been worse (hard to imagine I know). The council wanted to build a bypass through the High Street at one point. And more recently Mayor Ken (with Southwark's blessing) wanted to put a tram marshalling depot bang in the heart of it.

[Undisputedtruth]

Girl82 Wrote:

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> My god - how did it all go so wrong? :(

Easy, Southwark Council with their modernisation programme of the time. No doubt, they will have the latest idiots causing more damage than what the Luftwaffe did during the second world war.

I also agree with DF & DJKQ.

[henryb]

Do you think that is looking north towards the corner with Highshore rd?

Quite a lot of high streets and town centres were trashed in the 60/70/80s. I am not sure what happened architects and town planners of that generation. They must have been taken somewhere and had all sense of taste and aesthetics and decency beaten out of them.

Such a shame because so many historic buildings destroyed or defaced with ugly fronts without a second thought. Things are a bit better now but not much.

[tiger ranks]

i used to remember going to choumert road with my mum in the 80's to help her with her shopping can remember the old meat shop that used to sell ham cheese and pies SAWDUST on the floor and i can all ways remember it being totally clean

2012 on the other hand i sometimes think the whole lane knocking down it is really bad down there great if you want your phone fixed!!!!

[DulwichFox]

tiger ranks Wrote:

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> i used to remember going to choumert road with my

> mum in the 80's to help her with her shopping can

> remember the old meat shop that used to sell ham

> cheese and pies SAWDUST on the floor and i can all

> ways remember it being totally clean

>

> 2012 on the other hand i sometimes think the whole

> lane knocking down it is really bad down there

> great if you want your phone fixed!!!!

I think that shop was Caters Bacon and pies on one side and huge cheeses on the other side..

There was also a similar shop in the Market. and a pet shop that is still there.

There were loads of shoe shops.

Timsons , Stead & Simpsons, Dulces, Saxones..

Two C&A's, one now MacDonalds

Two J. Lyons's

Littlewoods.

Marks & Spencers now Argos

Walworths

British Home Stores . My Mum worked there during the War and one day a German plane flew

down Rye Lane firing bullets and a man threw my mum under the tailgate of a

lorry to save her.

You could park in Rye Lane in those days.. :))

Fox...

[Administrator]

test

[PeckhamRose]

Boots. Ex Timothy Whites!

But to say this, "Easy, Southwark Council with their modernisation programme of the time. No doubt, they will have the latest idiots causing more damage than what the Luftwaffe did during the second world war." is a bit mean.

If anyone cares enough about Peckham they'll find through peckham Vision, The Peckham Society and the like just what plans are afoot to improve the centre.

Incidentally, I got a 1910 photo of Peckham Rye Park the other day, and I'll scan that on here.

[Undisputedtruth]

I don't believe my comments about Southwark Council officials are unfair. The picture above shows the 19th century stunning brickwork at Queens Road Peckham station. In the last fortnight, Southwark have granted permission to have this architecture removed from the station despite Peckham Society and a number of local residents objecting to it.

Not quite sure why you're referring me to Peckham Society and Peckham vision. Perhaps you're underestimating my knowledge. Anyway, I'm fully aware of their work and I took an active interest in learning Peckham's history when I was just 12 years old.

[minder]

The big C & A clothes shop used to be where the 99p shop and others are now. There was an upstairs too with a big layout. Used to get my halter-neck tops, crimplene skirts and blouses here and East Street Market.

C & A must have closed in Peckham around 1993/1994.

[EDOliver]

I actually find the picture incredibly sad when you compare it to what's there today. Look at the shop fronts; well presented family businesses serving the well dressed proud people of SE15. I'm not saying it was all Mary Poppins because I know it wasn't, but it's a world away from what we have today. What ever went wrong, how very very sad!

[Fabricio the Guido]

Yes, instead of all this Dew-eyed lamenting could someone in comprehensible terms spell out exactly what "has gone wrong" so that those of us less fortunate types, having missed the golden era before now, can really understand how much things have changed and have a context within which to understand the development of the area. There is either a decline from a period of greatness or a progressive rise to a point of maturity & fulfilment. Help us to understand this melancholic and nostalgiac lament.

[Damon Baird]

Undisputedtruth Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The picture above

> shows the 19th century stunning brickwork at

> Queens Road Peckham station. In the last

> fortnight, Southwark have granted permission to

> have this architecture removed from the station

> despite Peckham Society and a number of local

> residents objecting to it.

It's a shame they could reopen that archway and incoperate it into the new station. My like what happened with LUL when they refurbished the East London Line.... Until London Overground "Modernised" it all.

Sadly its probably a conformity thing and sod the architectural history.

[benevetts]

This might be somewhat off-topic for the East Dulwich forum but on the Queen's Road issue, i believe this is a case of not being able to do all the station improvements and also accommodate the narrow doorways, as beautiful as they are. There is a big programme of works to QRP station which will see a new forecourt on the other side of the bridge, new ticket office and (I hope but not as far as I know confirmed) a lift. While its a same to lose them, I would argue that the loss of the details (if this is indeed true) is probably for the greater good. Perhaps if people are interested in this they could ask the council to remove the brickwork and reinstate it somewhere else within the newly refurbished station.

[gringas]

Was it Marcantonio's ice cream parlour on the corner of Choumert Road and Rye Lane?

I remember a greengrocers and fruiters on the opposite side of the road between Choumert Road and the railway bridge. 60 years later I can still remember the smell of the fruit in the summertime. And that is something that sadly few people are going to experience again in this country.

[Undisputedtruth]

benevetts Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> This might be somewhat off-topic for the East

> Dulwich forum but on the Queen's Road issue, i

> believe this is a case of not being able to do all

> the station improvements and also accommodate the

> narrow doorways, as beautiful as they are. There

> is a big programme of works to QRP station which

> will see a new forecourt on the other side of the

> bridge, new ticket office and (I hope but not as

> far as I know confirmed) a lift. While its a same

> to lose them, I would argue that the loss of the

> details (if this is indeed true) is probably for

> the greater good. Perhaps if people are

> interested in this they could ask the council to

> remove the brickwork and reinstate it somewhere

> else within the newly refurbished station.

Southwark Council will be creating a piazza where King's Builders yard used to be. A lift was confirmed last year and is funded under the Access for All - DfT programme. Plans for this lift is detailed in the planning application.

The plans were submitted by Railtrack. Not exactly the most sensible company around and encompassed with incompetence. No one from Railtrack bothered to turn up for the Queens Road Station consultation. There are plently of space for access under the arches without the need for removing the brickwork. In fact, the main reason why Railtrack wanted to remove the brickwork was because they didn't want to spend a little bit more money.

A coffee shop has been suggested for one of the arches and the stunning brickwork with stained glass windows is surely far better than Railtrack's stock design.