Wandsworth, South West London, Lavender Hill c1911

Wandsworth, South West London, Lavender Hill circa 1911. The unusual thing about this excellent postcard is that you can see the shop-front of the publisher, Sidney Smith. Smith was a prolific publisher of postcards of South-West London. I don't know if he actually took any photographs himself, on the 1911 census he describes himself as a 'stationer and fancy goods dealer'. He certainly used Richard Young of Teddington to take some photographs for his postcards. In the detailed views below you can see Smith's postcard shop, very conveniently located next to a post office. Smith's shop survives (number 200 Lavender Hill) as an estate agent called Woodland Payne. The post office has been replaced by an ugly 1960s building, but at least it is still a post office. I've also included a close-up of the girl on the right because she is so striking. Also see this post for another view of Lavender Hill. As usual, click the pictures to enlarge.

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St. John's Hill, Battersea, South West London c1910

St. John's Hill, Battersea. The scene looks so much more lively and vibrant than it does today. On the left, the old entrance to Clapham Junction station. Curiously, Clapham Junction is in Battersea, not Clapham. The station used to claim to be the busiest in the world. It is now arguably the busiest in Europe, though only in terms of the amount of trains that pass through it, not the number of passengers that use the station (or rather 'customers' as South West Trains prefers to call us now). On the right you can see the magnificent Clapham Grand Theatre, still in use as a music venue and club. The tower in the distance is Arding and Hobbs department store (now Debenhams), rebuilt after a terrrible fire in 1909. Postcard by Sidney Smith.

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