Happy Valley
Its exactly one year since the story about the tribute to William Clay appeared in the Wandsworth Guardian and triggered the momentum which kick-started this project. The research began with the...
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Stories
Exploring the lives and heritage of Summerstown, from the trenches of the Great War to the vibrant streets of today.
The Daffodil King
Pevensey Road cuts a swathe through the Fairlight, arrowing down from Smallwood School, directly to St George’s Hospital where it briefly becomes Cranmer Terrace before taking you straight into the...
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Bulldozers and Rockets
September 27th 2014 was a day to remember, the day that the Summerstown182 Guided Walk came of age. This was what I always hoped the walk could be, interaction and engagement on the street, people...
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Chatham Commemoration
It was a most glorious middle-Autumn day for a trip to the Medway. The date of 22nd September has taken on a new significance and it felt right that we should be making this journey down the estuary...
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HMS Crystal Palace
One of five Smiths in the ranks of the Summerstown182, Charles Arthur Smith is tucked in close to William Nicholls in the corner of Streatham Cemetery. Roughly the same age as William’s eldest sons,...
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Frederick Neary
This autumn marks the seventieth anniversary of the V2 rocket attack on Hazelhurst Road which killed 34 people. What does any of that have to do with the Summerstown182? Well, when the twelve ton...
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William Nicholls’ Great Escape
Its a real honour to be asked to give a First World War themed walk around Streatham Cemetery on the Friends’ Open Day. Looking for the Maces in the spring, I spent quite a bit of time in there so...
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Umbrella Hill
It took some time to connect James Luke Tugwell to Summerstown. The eldest son of bricklayer William Tugwell and his wife Rachel, he was born on 14th June 1886 in Kingswood, near Tadworth, tucked...
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Napoleon’s Column
Three of the Summerstown182 lie in a foreign field that is is closer to home than most. Its about two hours on the ferry or a 25 mile swim across La Manche (if you are David Walliams) to...
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Turtle Road
The Alan Bleasdale production of The Monocled Mutineer hit the BBC TV screens in the autumn of 1986 and caused outrage and much furrowing of brows in certain circles. The young Paul McGann was a...
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The Champs-Elysées
‘Burmester Road’ trips off the tongue rather nicely, its distinctive grandiose moniker, like a town out of a Victorian novel. It is a place apart and its own very special world. And as if to reflect...
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William Clay
It was around November last year when Dorothy found out that the Clay family were living at 823 Garratt Lane. The house is at the end of my road and I rushed out immediately and stood looking at the...
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