Peckham Palais

[malumbu]

I saw people queuing up one night a couple of years ago and it looked to me like it was an old theatre or music hall 

Actually it's an old department store, after it's closure as a night club there are plans to develop it into a decent venue 

Any views or memories.  Peckham continues to develop at pace.

https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/peckham/peckhams-newest-nightclub-inside-historic-building-edges-closer/

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

I'm a curmudgeon and don't favour more nightclubs, but it would also be better for the building to be used and maintained again. So put me in the "don't know/hopelessly indecisive" column.

[malumbu]

You may have lost the battle against more clubs in Peckham - although interestingly they keep saying how numbers are down, perhaps that is more aimed at night clubs more centrally. I just thought it looks an interesting building.

[Sue]

That's really great that they are going to do something with it, and especially something that will benefit the community, rather than expensive housing which will benefit a few 

It reminds me of the old Arding & Hobbs corner  building in Clapham Junction. I'm guessing probably of the same sort of era?

I suppose department stores mostly died a death with the internet and online shopping? Or did it start before that?

[Bubbles]

I remember after Jones & Higgins closed, it was turned into Ezekiel. A nightclub with three floors playing a different genre of music on each floor. When this closed, it was vacant for a long time before opening as a music venue again. 
It’s great that something’s being done with this beautiful building. Not sure what would be the best use of the building though. 

[ctovey]

I remember Jones and Higgins in the 60s when I was a teenager.  It seemed to me at the time to be a very upmarket department store.  Rye Lane also has 2 C&As, M&S, British Home Stores, Woolworths, Dunn's hat shop, umpteen shoe shops and furniture stores.  We brought our first 3 piece suite and bedroom suite in Williams furniture store in the late 60s when Rye Lane was a thriving shopping centre.

[Nigello]

And look at it now! It’s a sorry mess but ideal if you’re after hobbling pigeons, mashed-up fruit and fish heads à la gutter or inspiration for your toddler’s wildest wall-scribble fever dreams… Southwark Council makes efforts to keep other shopping areas welcoming and clean (like Walworth Road, Old Kent Road) but not Rye Lane. 

[malumbu]

I like Rye Lane, it's more real than Lordship Lane with far more interesting shops. The massive changes in night life should be generally welcome but I've always had an issue that the daytime and nighttime demographics are so different.

Thanks for the interesting reflections on the building.

[Margaret Whymark]

I too remember Rye Lane in the 60’s with all those shops.  My father was a butcher at Wilson’s and we lived above their other shop at Peckham Rye.  Good old days.

[Kathleen Olander]

Jones and Higgins was a lovely shop.  It had a revolving door at one entrance.  At Christmas Father Christmas used to be in the basement and the kids got on a little train to see him.  They used to have a little zoo at the same time.  When Father Christmas arrived they used to parade animals from the shop in Rye Lane up to Peckham Rye Park, they did this without closing any roads!

[Sue]

2 hours ago, malumbu said:

I like Rye Lane, it's more real than Lordship Lane with far more interesting shops. The massive changes in night life should be generally welcome but I've always had an issue that the daytime and nighttime demographics are so different.

Thanks for the interesting reflections on the building.

What are the "far more interesting shops" in Rye Lane?

This is a serious question.

The only one I've ever found interesting was the Rastamouse shop in the covered market, and it sadly isn't there any more.

The Rastamouse man was lovely, and great with my grandkids when they were little ❤️

[Nigello]

The shops and services are of use, of course - there’s a variety, which is to be welcomed, and footfall seems to be high, though not nearly so much after Choumert.
The general feeling and look, though, is of neglect (on the part of the council and of the business owners, who likely shut their vandalised shutters at day’s end and only get to see them fleetingly anyway) and ugliness.