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Balham, Greater London

Balham photos

Displaying 1 of 15 old photos of Balham.   View all Balham photos

15
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Balham maps

Historic maps of Balham and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis.   View all Balham maps

Balham map

Historic map of Balham

Greater London map

Illustrated Victorian map of Greater London

Balham map

Historic Map of any Balham postcode

Balham maps
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Balham books

Displaying 3 of 9 books about Balham and the local area.   View all Balham books

London Photographic Memories
Paperback
rrp £14  £11.20

South East London Photographic Memories
Paperback
rrp £13  £10.40

Central London Photographic Memories
Paperback
rrp £14  £11.20

Balham books
View all 9 Balham and Greater London books

Memories of Balham

Balham memories
Read and share Balham memories

Displaying a selection of personal memories of Balham .
Add your memory of Balham or of a photo of Balham.

 

Hernville Road School, Balham 1938/39

I started at Hernville Road School when I was 5 in 1937 and when war broke out in 1939 we happened to be staying with my grandfather so I didn't get evacuated with the school. BUT prior to that, I have a vivid memory of being assembled and waiting in the school hall with an eiderdown fastened up with a leather... [more]

Shared on 03 September 2009

Penny Train

My Great Uncle Bill looked after me occasionally and used to take me to a shop in the high street where I watched a train go round for a penny. My Grandparents lived just opposite us in Old Devonshire Road. This is my only memory of Balham as we moved soon after.

Shared on 11 January 2009

the Green Dolphin Cafe

My grandfather bought Smiths Car Showroom after the war when it was the Green Dolphin Cafe. I can remember going to the cafe in the 1950s when I was small. I think it is now a windows showroom.

Shared on 06 April 2006 by Mrs C Fanning.

This shows Powis Street in Woolwich. The large building in the middle of the photo is the RACS Co-op building, it is also the site in the distance of the first McDonalds shop in England. I was born in Balham in the late 1930s. I was working in Woolwich in 1956-1957 and have seen the decline in the area from a... [more]

Shared on 25 January 2009

Greater London memories

Childhood walk

This could be my mother and me! I was 5 in 1951 and remember visiting the pond to 'feed the ducks'. The common became a wonderful playground durig my childhood, everything from 'the wild west' to 'army battlefields'. It was safe, we would spend all day playing without fears or worries. The important thing was to avoid the 'Parkie' (Park Keeper),... [more]

Shared on 22 August 2008 by Martin Foulser.

Running on the Common 1980s

During the '80s I lived in Streathbourne Road, just a couple of houses in from the Common. Weather permitting I would run in the evenings. One dark evening in the late autumn I ventured onto the Common. Running in the grass near the Lido, I tripped over a couple who were lying there shagging beneath a tree. I am afraid I... [more]

Shared on 29 December 2007 by Donald Campbell.

St Helen's School, Streatham Common

My sister, Adele, and I went to St Helen's School on the corner of Valley Road opposite Streatham Common. I remember Sheila Tittenshaw and another girl called Eleanor amongst others. I learnt to read there. The headmistress was Miss Tarry. We then went on to Fidelis Convent in Upper Norwood. Marianne nee Pentony

Shared on 24 October 2009 by Marianne Stevens.

Streatham Common The Grove area

I used to be taken by my mother to the White House for a picnic tea with my sister. Although we had a huge garden ourselves, we loved going there. Sadly a young woman was murdered there in the 1950s ( I think) by her boyfriend. However, the girl's mother forgave the young man as she felt her daughter had behaved... [more]

Shared on 24 October 2009 by Marianne Stevens.

Extracts From Balham & Greater London books

Displaying a selection of extracts from Frith books about Balham, inspired by Frith photos.

London Living Memories

High Street North is a relatively undistinguished and typical London suburban shopping street: the exuberance of the Town Hall complex is forgotten. The Midland Bank on the corner of Caulfield Road (right) is one of their 1920s Classical-style single-storey buildings that add quality to many High Streets. On the left the taller Victorian brick buildings were demolished in the 1970s and replaced by bland flat roofed ones.

This is an extract from London Living Memories.
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London Living Memories

We pass under the River Thames via the Blackwall Tunnel - the northbound side dates from the 1890s, an early project of the LCC, which was established in 1888. East Ham was in Essex until 1965, but since the mid 19th century very much a part of greater London. Here we approach East Ham's town centre along the busy North Circular Road, which seems... [more]

This is an extract from London Living Memories.
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London Living Memories

Our tour now heads north-east to Greenwich to a much grander building. The Royal Naval Hospital, a counterpart to the Chelsea Hospital for soldiers, began as a rebuild of Greenwich Palace by Charles II in the 1660s, but it changed direction in the 1690s. The second pediment from the right is Webb's 1660s work. In 1873 it became the Royal Naval College; when that... [more]

This is an extract from London Living Memories.
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