derelictlondon

www.derelictlondon.com

 

VAUXHALL SE11 - THE GEORGE AND DRAGON

Set in the middle of a housing estate this was the only pub in London to have its own swimming pool!

  

ELTHAM - CORONET CINEMA

The Odeon Cinema opened in 1936 to serve the suburban development in the Well Hall area of Eltham. Subsequently it became the Coronet.It finally closed its doors in 1999 due to declining trade. Local campaigners want to see the borough’s first bowling alley built on the site, while developers favour converting the building into work space, shops and a café. It is currently in limbo, prey to vandals.

Just across the roundabout from the Coronet cinema, opposite an anonymous bus stop along an anonymous suburban road lies a simple grey marble plaque. . Engraved with the epitaph 'Inmemory of Stephen Lawrence'. Black teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered by thugs at this bus stop. A bungled police investigation means no one has been convicted for his murder.

Debbie writes: "Your photos of Eltham Coronet cinema made me smile and brought back memories of when I was a student in the early 90s and used to go to the Turnpike Lane Coronet cinema. It had the same signs and presumably was the same chain. Monday night was student night (tickets £1!) and that gave access to creaky valour seats with stains of dubious origins, ripped carpets, clouds of fag smoke and a slightly wobbly screen with Now That's What I Call Music vol 2 playing on a loop until the film started. The combination of the place being so mingy and full of students on a Monday meant that we usually pretty much had the place to ourselves. I can remember a gang of us dancing on the stage to Now 2 until one of the staff came in and shouted at us. The staff were the best bit- grumpy, abrupt and shielded behind bullet proof screens. They grunted, threw your change and ticket at you and you only ever got half a carton of popcorn because most of it fell on the floor when they slammed it down hard on the counter. Oh happy days indeed!"

  

SOHO - MARSHALL STREET BATHS

The first public baths were built on the site by the Vestry of St James in 1850 and the present building, then known as The Westminster Public Baths, was started in 1928 and completed in 1931. It was builtwith public funds for the health and well being of local people.

The main pool is lined with white Sicilian marble and this marble and Swedish green marble are used on the walls at either end. The bronze fountain in a niche at the shallow end, depicting a merchild with two dolphins, is by Walter Gilbert. Behind the pool is a smaller pool, the 'second class bath' 70ft x 30ft' which also has a barrel vaulted roof. When built the complex also included a child's welfare centre, a public laundry and public bathing facilities, among other things

A £25m plan to redevelop this historic swimming pool closed for more than a decade has been given the go ahead by Westminster City Council.The ambitious project will see the restoration of Marshall Street baths,as well as a wider development of the site, with a new purpose built leisure centre opening in the near future.As part of the development 52 new homes will be built, 15 of which will be affordable. Unfortunately it is not possible to retain the smaller pool due to its unsuitability for modern dry side leisure activities, which are essential to ensure that the main pool and the leisure centre facilities remain a long term and sustainable public service.

   

WOOLWICH - THE OLD COOP DEPARTMENT STORE

The 1930s Co-Op building in Powis Street has been earmarked for demolition by the Council, who want to redevelop the whole "Woolwich Triangle" are with a hotel, shops &  housing.  

Rev. Sue Scottley ( www.welovewoolwich.co.uk ) writes: Most of the site is empty Victorian shops which have been left to rot for some years, and have taken the opportunity with glee, but the Co-Op building is a striking art deco style department store with a tower and is a one of three large 1930s buildings at that end of town. The other two are safe, being occupied by a church and a bingo hall, indeed the bingo hall was open during the London Open House weekends because it's so beautiful and well-preserved. So even though that end of town could well be described as our "Art Deco quarter" the Council insists on wanting to demolish the Co-Op. I've started petitions online and in town, and I'm getting quite a lot of support. . I live across the road from the rotting Victoriana, and am disgusted and aghast with the Council that seems determined to write off my end of town a hopeless dump, even though my side of the street is thriving and has no vacant shops! I really don't see why they can't refurbish and redevelop rather than demolish the whole "Triangle".

  

BOW E3 - CHISENHALE WORKS

Morris Cohen built the Chisenhale Works building (called CHN Veneers) at the height of the Second World War in 1943 to produce veneer for the construction of Spitfire cockpits, as well as propellers and plywood for Mosquito aircraft. The works closed in 1972 and the building was then bought by the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

In 1980 a group of artists and a dance collective took over the lease at Chisenhale Works as the Arts Place Trust after being forced to relocate from their studio building in Butler’s Wharf in Docklands. During the winter of 1980–1, the artists renovated part of the derelict building and created 40 studios. X6 Dance, meanwhile, established Chisenhale Dance Space in the derelict Black Horse Brewery building adjacent to Chisenhale Works.

Although many parts of the old works pictured here still remain derelict, there appear to be no plans to redevelop them.

 

STAINES

  

(Above left) SUNBURY, (Middle) CLAPHAM & (Right) WALTHAMSTOW

The decline of the traditional filling station. In 2007, there were 9,271 petrol stations in the U.K, down from about 18,000 in 1992. Several supermarket chains now operate filling stations, such as Asda and Tesco. The filling stations operated by large supermarket outlets usually price fuel more competitively than stand-alone filling stations.

The independently run small and garages (and their suppliers) are often being forced out of a market with such tiny profit margins. Also a few years back, due to European laws, there was a legal requirement to replace pumps dispensing in gallons and they had to sell by the litre and health & safety legislation outlawing kerbside pumps.

After a filling station shuts down and the underground tanks are removed, the area must often be left vacant for a number of years in order for the fuel contaminants to wash out of the soil.

   

WATERLOO STATION EUROSTAR TERMINAL

Following the relocation of the main Eurostar Terminal to St Pancras, Waterloo International lays empty.The first Eurostar left Waterloo on November 1994 and the last departed in November 2007. The £130m station, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw, was widely admired.It won the best building prize from the Royal Institute of British Architects for its "power and elegance" in 1994.

  

HOLBORN - KINGSWAY TRAM TUNNEL

1906-1952. This tram underpass originally connected a subterranean station at Holborn, and ran the length of Kingsway via a station at Aldwych before rising to the surface under Waterloo Bridge.

The original tunnel was built to carry the single deck cars then in use, but in 1930 the tunnel was closed for a period to allow alterations to be made to enable double-deck cars to be used. A new entrance was built at the northern end while south of High Holborn, the level of the track was lowered to give the necessary clearance. Both stations were rebuilt at the same time and finished in marble and stone with electric lighting.

The trams picked up their electricity supply through a conduit laid between the running rails. When trams were withdrawn in London, the subway remained unused though In 1953, London Transport used the subway to store 120 withdrawn buses and coaches in case they were needed for the Coronation.The southern section was rebuilt in the 1960's as an underpass for cars between Waterloo Bridge and the Aldwych. During the conversion Aldwych station was destroyed but Holborn tram station remains intact in an unused portion of the tunnel. Various films have been shot in the tunnel 

  

 

BERMONDSEY - DECAYING RAILWAY ARCHES

 

FELTHAM ARENA - FELTHAM FC

Home of Feltham FC from 1963 until 2004. The grandstand was officially opened in 1966 by the Mayor of Hounslow and the ground, boasted a capacity of 10,000 of which 750 could be seated. The club played on an artificial pitch which was laid in 1984 though this pitch denied Feltham entry to FA competitions for over a decade. The roof of the stadium was removed in 2000 due to a scare about asbestos.Following a spate of vandalism the club moved from the Arena and are now ground sharing with Bedfont FC. After rumours of Brentford FC relocating to the Arena and turning it into a 25,000 seat stadium, plans are afoot for Feltham FC to return to their spiritual home and redevelop the whole arena, including five-a-side pitches, an athletics track, a boxing club and crèche.

 

HOUNSLOW - SAFEWAY

Safeway were one of the UK's largest supermarket chains but were taken over by Morrisons a few years ago. Morrisons simply renamed most of the old shops although they decided not to convert this one in Hounslow (some leasehold issues apparently). The interior of this old Safeway store was used as a film set for the interior of Somerfields in Hot Fuzz starring Simon Pegg.