This piece is reproduced, by kind permission, from Pat Roberts's Fawnbrake Blog A new and deeply interesting book about John Ruskin and Herne Hill has just been published by the Herne Hill Society. John Ruskin spent his childhood and most of his working life here in Herne Hill. When he died in 1900 just a year before Queen Victoria – about the same time as many of the houses in Herne Hill were built – he had become one of... Continue reading

You might have noticed that the First World War memorial stone in the station booking hall, which commemorates the death of over 550 Herne Hill residents and the suffering of thousands more, has been need of some TLC. The memorial's creator, Mark Brooks, has been paying us a visit in order to gild and repaint the hard-carved lettering. It looks splendid now and is more readable in the unfavourable light of the booking hall. Mark will also create a permanent... Continue reading

Lambeth and Southwark have been busy during these troubled times working on ways – depending on where you stand on the issue – to drive residents to distraction or to give them a better world of calmer streets. Views are polarised. You need look no further than the views about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods on BrixtonBuzz. And this presents a quandary to a group such as the Herne Hill Society. Should we take a position, and if so what position? Should... Continue reading

Colin joined the Society at the Lambeth Country Show in 2004. He was recruited to the Committee a year later and became Chair in 2012. After nearly eight years in the role, he stood down on 6 January 2021 to hand over to Rebecca Tee. What skills did you bring? I came in with a modern perspective. My long career at the British Library had given me a thorough knowledge of publishing, marketing and communications, running events and creating websites.... Continue reading

We learn that Lambeth Council’s plans to allow music festivals again in Brockwell Park are well advanced, all subject of course to COVID-19. Published documents now available on Brixton Buzz show that a Summer Event Series 2021 is envisaged, with up to six large / major event days taking place over two consecutive weekends, and medium / small community event days taking place in the weekdays between. Final decisions will supposedly be made next spring. But the Council has naturally... Continue reading

Half Moon Lane is a chilly place at this time of the year but I am basking in the warm glow of a job well done. It's nearly a week since a very successful event at Herne Hill Station and I am still asking myself how we did it. In less than six months we planned and delivered something that even a year ago would have seemed highly unlikely: a hand-carved memorial slate in prime position in central Herne Hill’s... Continue reading

The Herne Hill Society, in association with Southeastern Railway, who run Herne Hill station, has commissioned a hand-engraved Welsh slate plaque in memory of “all the people of Herne Hill” who suffered as a result of the 1914-18 war. Calligrapher and stone-carver Mark Brooks is designing a hand-carved Welsh slate plaque, financed by Southeastern Railway and to be unveiled by Helen Hayes MP at the station ticket hall on Remembrance Sunday. Everyone is welcome at the unveiling: 10:45am on Sunday... Continue reading

This a review of a free talk arranged by the Herne Hill Society. You can find out about our events programme here. We can all identify a London Underground Station from the easily recognisable sign outside, the blue-and-red disc with the name of the station or “Underground” across the middle. But how many of us take a good look at the building, inside and out, and appreciate its heritage? Edmund Bird is a member of the Herne Hill Society and... Continue reading

This a review of a free talk arranged by the Herne Hill Society. You can find out about our events programme here. Astronomy was a popular pastime in Victorian times. We are aware of the telescope which was erected by Henry Bessemer in the garden of his house on Denmark Hill. At our November 2018 meeting Louise Devoy, Senior Curator at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, came to talk about two other notable people in the field of astrophysics who lived... Continue reading

Friday 8 February 2019 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Victorian, John Ruskin (photographed here in c.1860). On 8 February 1919 The Graphic published an article remembering the birth of John Ruskin on that day 100 years before. It talks of the house at 54 Hunter Street just north of Brunswick Square where Ruskin was born and lived with his parents until he was four years old, with its “chocolate cake identification disc”; the forerunner of... Continue reading

Who lived in your Herne Hill street 100 years ago? "Remembering Herne Hill 1914-18" is a volunteer-run project that has mapped the addresses and researched the stories of hundreds of local men killed in the First World War. You can find out more at memorial.hernehillsociety.org.uk The Herne Hill Society and The Charter School North Dulwich are also investigating the lives of other residents who were affected by the war, including many of German origin. Come and hear more about the... Continue reading

Three Society members who took part in the Remembering Herne Hill 1914-18 project will attend The National Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on 11 November 2018, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. Members of the Royal family, and religious and political leaders will be joined by members of the public who have contributed to the Centenary on a national, regional and local level. Recognising the huge contribution the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and its First World War projects... Continue reading

As surely everyone must know by now, this is an imaginative project to transform the underpass that runs under the railway lines at Herne Hill Station with a 40-metre mural — created by Victor Szepessy and coloured in by local people, including hundreds of schoolchildren. The big day, 12 September, was overcast and drizzly. The team of volunteers, comprehensively briefed and marshalled by the brilliant Lucy Reynolds, started to arrive before 8am. It was immediately clear that this was a... Continue reading

“The Honourable Member for Norwood” Thank you very much to the Herne Hill Society and Brockwell Park Community Partners for inviting me to give this lecture, and my particular thanks to Ann Kingsbury for help with research. There have been nine MPs for the Norwood constituency alone; and subsequently two MPs for the successor seat of Dulwich and West Norwood, of which I am proud to be the second. It has been really enjoyable and fascinating to have had the... Continue reading

Lambeth have announced that they are closing the northbound road under the railway bridge from 10 pm to 6 am for two long weekends – 17 to 21 August, and then 7 to 10 December. In fact, they are taking powers to allow the closure for the full four months, but hopefully this will not happen! This is to enable long overdue repairs to the railway bridge above. Widespread traffic diversions will be in force. No local consultation was undertaken,... Continue reading

On 24 May 2018 Network Rail issued the following statement Having met with our tenant and continued to review the options available to us, we have identified a different site to locate the electricity sub-station, which we will now pursue. We will not, therefore, be continuing to discuss relocation options with The Flower Lady. It remans to be seen what alternative site will be chosen for the sub-station. Continue reading

We received acknowledgement yesterday from Lambeth Council of our Conservation Area submission regarding Herne Hill "Station Square". The text of Colin Wight's letter of 16 May 2018 appears below. "I am writing on behalf of the Herne Hill Society. The Society has always taken an active interest in the built environment and historic heritage of Herne Hill. Conservation Areas, and national and local listing, are vital tools in conserving the special character of our area. The Society understands that Lambeth... Continue reading

A statement by The Herne Hill Society, dated 12 May 2018, follows: The Herne Hill Society is very concerned to learn of Network Rail’s plan to demolish the Flower Lady Shop next to Herne Hill Station and to replace it with an electricity sub-station. The shop occupies a prominent position and forms an important part of the attractive mix of small businesses that make up the Herne Hill “village”. This is an area that has undergone huge improvement in recent... Continue reading

We came across this excellent short video made by George Okello. Featuring: Seasons of England, Afro Barbers, Jo's House, The Flower Lady, The Illusioneer, Herne Hill Books, 198 Contemporary Arts, Brockwell Art Services and Tales of Moon Lane. It must have been filmed very recently as Jo Hill has not been open for more than a few weeks. Continue reading

On Saturday 9 September 2017 the residents of Frankfurt Road held a street party – the first we know of to be held in its 100+ years of existence. The event started simply enough: closing off the lower half of the road and allowing children to scooter, cycle and rollerskate up and down a car-free zone was exciting in itself! Soon more people gathered to share drinks and burgers, and we were delighted to be entertained by an impromptu but... Continue reading

Call for volunteers! This is a new volunteer-led project to tell the story of all those from Herne Hill who served in the First World War - as well as other residents who suffered as a result of the conflict. We’ve been awarded £5,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players. It will need extensive research to identify the names of all the casualties and find out more about their lives. We will also... Continue reading

With a General Election either just behind us, it is a good time to cast a brief look at some perhaps lesser-known facts about Herne Hill’s electoral history. Today Herne Hill, however you define its precise boundaries, is all included in Dulwich and West Norwood, a constituency with an electorate of some 75,000 created in 1997. At the 2015 General Election 67% turned out to vote, in line with overall turnout for the whole of the UK. This is in... Continue reading

Jay Rayner is a novelist, journalist, musician and familiar figure on television (Masterchef, The One Show), as well as in and around Herne Hill. It would be difficult to mistake him for anyone else. A big man with big hair, he looks like someone who eats (and writes about it) for a living. You may see him in Dugards, where this little paperback is on sale, or in Mimosa, or even in Sainsbury’s. He is not shy, and his forthright... Continue reading

This delightful memoir recalling Brockwell Park, in particular as it was in the 1930s and 40s, has long been out of print but has now been revised and will be republished by the Society on Wed 17 May. Author Jeffrey Rumble was born in 1931 and grew up in Herne Hill a “depression kid”, living for 45 years in the same house in Hawarden Grove off Rosendale Road until 1976, when his work took him out of Lambeth. Brockwell Park,... Continue reading

The “noble art” of boxing has always held a special place in the history of sport. The sport today is linked to a set of rules, the Queensberry Rules introduced in 1867, that have come to stand for the ideal of fair play. Up to that time boxing was a much rougher business, often bare-knuckle fights with no limit to the number of rounds, not infrequently resulting in fatal injury. The law tried to distinguish between “sparring” which was thought... Continue reading