If you thought the Wandsworth One Way system was the original 'Nightmare on Ram Street' things could've been a whole lot worse! Reclaim the night and take a trip to Wandsworth's 'Highway to Hell' leading you to the extreme northern reaches of Wandsworth Common where a walk around a collection of brooding Victorian presences will give you the ultimate London Borough of Culture Halloween experience!
The chilling elder sibling to 'Spooking Tooting' takes you from Wandsworth Prison to the site of 'The Black Sea', visiting the spectacular spook-infested Royal Victoria Patriotic Building and other quirks and oddities that always look better when the lights are slightly dimmed. We'll be talking about Mr Craig and his extraordianary telescope, A Clockwork Orange, the Luftwaffe obliteration of Huntsmoor Street, Ronnie Biggs' Great Escape, Gypsy Queen Charlotte Cooper and the day Lemmy and Hawkwind came to Wandsworth Prison, but the star turns are of course the looming monolithic institutions who along with the railway lines carved up the Common and threatened to gobble up all its precious green spaces. Thanks to Mr Buckmaster and his friends they were stopped in their track! One hundred years later car-crazed planners threatened to do it all again driving a monstrous multi-lane superhighway from Wandsworth Bridge to Streatham, flattening great swathes of Common in its path.
This informative and entertaining Walk starts from Macdonalds, next to the York Road roundabout near Wandsworth Bridge and finishes at The Hope pub (very close to Wandsworth Common station or a short bus ride to Tooting Bec tube). There will be lots of lovely leafy Wandsworth Common to enjoy along the way but its not all illuminated so do bring a torch to help you along the way!
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 and Traveller 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 social media.
