Continuing my series of deep-dives into Wandsworth London Borough of Culture, on this occasion I’m coming in from the west side with a smorgasbord of great stories, from 'The Swedish Nightingale' to 'The Pioneers of Punk'. Join me on the high ground among the big houses, swanky secluded estates and roomy villas. Hear about singers and performers, gardeners, architects, writers, fascists and slave-owners as we take a gentle trip into the Wandle Valley. We’ll see the place where in August 1975 four cockney geezers rehearsed together for the first time and changed the face of popular music forever. The Sex Pistols join forces with George Eliot, HG Wells, Constance Cummings-John, Whitelands College, Giles Gilbert Scott, Jenny Lind, AV Roe and Charles Pearson, the man who thought up the London Underground. Throw in Fazl Mosque, a 'lost' pet cemetery and Sigismund Rucker's rhodedendron garden and you have one of the most eclectic line-ups you'll ever find on a Guided Walk.
We're starting at the War Memorial in the grounds of Holy Trinity Church, junction of Beaumont Road and West Hill. It's a bit of a hike from East Putney, the nearest tube station so much easier to get the 170 bus from central Wandsworth. Looming alongside the church is the gigantic Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. Established here in 1854 when 'The Hospital for Incurables' relocated from Carshalton. Prior to that it was West Hill House built on the site of Lady Pitt's mansion by John Anthony Rucker in 1789. Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and Humphry Repton both helped to design the estate, the bulk of Rucker's wealth coming from his sugar plantations in the West Indies and the slave trade. Alongside this are the grounds of Giles Gilbert Scott designed Whitelands College which in 1935 welcomed a young woman from Africa called Constance Cummings-John. Fazl Mosque, London's first purpose-built mosque built ten years earlier is just around the corner, visited in 1933 by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. As we meander through leafy West Hill estate we'll see how the rich and famous turned this corner of SW18 into Wandsworth's Beverley Hills. As we head down into the valley and central Wandsworth, we pass the site of the shed where AV Roe built one of the world's first aeroplanes and dreamt up the flying machines that would win two World Wars. Close by are sobering reminders of the Blitz at Wandsworth Fire station. We'll finish by trying to find traces of Sigismund Rucker's orchids near the grounds of Putney Lodge.
Geoff Simmons runs a community history project in south west London called Summerstown182 alongside his job as a graphic designer. This involves Guided Walks and Talks, working with schools and putting up plaques. Over the last ten years a trail of these have emerged along the Wandle Valley, shining a light on some of the lesser-known history in this area. They range from the youngest soldier to serve this country in the First World War to a ground-breaking plaque acknowledging Romany Gypsy heritage in Wandsworth. 'Planet Tooting' is an ongoing initiative championing the outstanding migrant contribution to our neighbourhood which resulted in a blue plaque on Tooting Market. Have a look on Geoff's blog for more details or follow @summerstown182 on instagram or twitter.
