“We were terrified; we didn’t know what to do or how to help him”
Suddenly losing her father Paul to Cardiac arrest in 2022 is what spurred Clare on to set up the Paul Alan Project. Last year, Clare Parish and her charity team have installed defibrillators in several local locations such as at Sutton Green, The Robin Hood pub and in Sutton Town Centre. A passionate football fan, […]
Charming photo of passengers and staff at Carshalton Railway Station over 140 years ago
*Historical* This charming old photo is a lovely glimpse into the past. It shows people on the platform at Carshalton station going about their everyday lives. The people are smartly dressed. There are two men with top hats on the right, one has removed it. Who are they? Where are they going? There’s a young […]
Fancy a plunge in Carshalton’s very own freezing cold ‘Bagnio’?
*Historical* Bathing parties in Carshalton would be held in lavish surroundings, and the Bagnio on the grounds of Carshalton House was visited back in the 1770s by the influential writer Horace Walpole (pictured below). He built and lived in the beautiful gothic Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham. 🗝️ The Carshalton bathhouse was most likely designed […]
The old gothic-style doorway to Carshalton’s first Fire Station
*Historical* There wasn’t much room for firemen, but behind these doors was stored a small wooden fire ‘engine’. The fire cart was a basic contraption pulled by horse. Handily placed to pump water out of the pond to deliver to the nearest fire. You can still see a similar fire cart on display at Bourne […]
Wood-framed Wine Bar in South London built in the 1600s was a butcher’s for over 300 years
*Historical* This old and fragile wooden-framed building in Carshalton may have originally been the home of the parish priest. It is thought to have become a butcher shop as far back as 1660. 🗝 It went through several owners until 1905, when Edward and Emily Woodman took over. They were there for about 15 years […]
A motorway next to Beddington Park? They’d even started building it…
Yes, it was a genuine proposal to cut up swathes of Surrey to build a motorway into London. And did you know, they even started building it? Hidden parts still exists – this includes part of the carriageway and an abandoned bridge that you still drive under today. If you come off the M25 at […]
The Oaks Bake House and the Flamingo named after the owner
*Historical* This is the pleasingly large chimney of the old Bake House in Oaks Park catching the winter sun. The unusual square chimney pots once vented the steam derived from baking bread for a large country house. 🗝 The Bake House was built in around 1889, during the time of Harry Berkeley James. It was […]
Mystery of the ornate post by Carshalton Park – solved – see how it once looked
We asked our social media followers what they thought this stump could once have been. There were many entertaining suggestions. Some of the ideas put forward were: street lamp, drinking water post, cannon, air raid siren, fire hydrant, parish markers, trolley bus post… This intriguing stump could be mistaken for many things. However, some of […]
The incredible 1000-year timeline of Carshalton’s miniature Upper Mill
The site of this unassuming little building is a source of so much local history pertinent to the local area. Going back nearly 1,000 years, the mill has been rebuilt and adapted a lot throughout that time. Although the current mill building is relatively recent it still provides a reminder of the long and industrious […]