Colliers Wood High Street

Map of Route described


Another lunchtime stroll, this time leaving from South Wimbledon Tube Station and east along Merton High Street and into Colliers Wood just over the railway bridge and sniffing at the borders with Tooting. There was a surprising lack of painted wall signage but some interesting architectural features. Quite an enjoyable stroll all round…


1)First stop was the Admiral Nelson, a very ornate pre-first World War I pub covered in glazed and painted tiles, The two tiles sets face right onto the pavement and I’m amazed they haven’t been damaged or vandalized more than they seem to have been. Both sets of glazed tiles are dated and bear the name Carter’s, Poole 1910 in the bottom left hand corner. This company eventually became Poole Pottery and apparently did much of the art deco tile work for the London Underground


2) On the same site I also noticed a couple of these tiles whose message has been slightly lost over the years where, presumably frost and freezing has finally been taking its toll.


3)Quirky or naff, these signs were, I believe, designed after a competition amongst local schools some years ago. There have been more recent and slightly more threatening efforts since then but there are still loads of these about the streets of Merton.





4) This plaque is on the side of the River Wandle by the footbridge to the Sainsbury’s and commemorates the presence of the William Morris mills. For a fairly shabby part of London there’s a surprising amount of history around these streets!



5)These photos show a monument just inside Wandle Park that has inscriptions on three side. One side is pretty weather-beaten but these two are still quite legible and you can probably read them by clicking on the photo for a closer look. The park and monument was bequeathed by “John Feeney of Birmingham and Berkswell who loved nature and his fellow man” and was opened in 1907.





6) Down a bit further to the magnificent portico to the Royal Standard pub. No idea what it’s like inside but the façade is very eye-catching.




7) Down the road a few hundred yards and you come across the only piece of painted wall signage on the walk. It may be modern but it does the job




8) At this point there is a long stretch of old, slightly run-down shops underneath Victorian buildings. As usual you have to look up to get an idea of their original quality and there are some nice touches to be found. Here, not particularly clearly, you can see the name plaque ‘Spring Cottages 1863’ and I’ve also tried to include the attractive top of a column amidst more modern fittings.




9)These two pictures show some ornate brickwork on one particular row and the date plaque of 1875 showing that it was built by William Clark and was probably quite smart when first completed. I also tried to capture the top windows as they were the only ones with the original iron retainers to presumably stop flowerpots being blown off the ledges!.







10) Slightly further along I spotted this lonely pot sitting on top of its column. I assume there were originally a few more but they are long since gone and this one doesn’t look in too good a state either.





11) Just before the railway bridge now and you have to wonder ‘What on earth was this?’. Although now a workshop this building has an enormous flagpole and looks as though it used to have a grander entrance. Could it have been an early cinema or scout hut? If you have any idea please leave a note in the comment section below…





12) On the railway bridge now and a couple of road signs, old and new (so good they named it twice!)




13) Over the bridge and to the left is a row of what at first look like fairly run of the mill shops divided by pillars, most of which are pebble-dashed. There is a glorious and unexpected exception though. This column of ornate tiles shows just what is lurking beneath the dirt, painted textured coating that covers the rest of the pillars. It really does catch your eye as you walk by and brightens up an otherwise dingy parade.




14) At this point I could see over the cross-roads into Tooting and a very large and tempting plaque on the eaves of a large building but with iron-will and self-discipline I crossed over and headed back to South Wimbledon. I walked past this ordinary post-box was drawn back to it as the proportions didn’t seem quite right, being slightly slimmer than usual. When I looked closely at the royal crest I saw it was for Edward VII so was probably put in place son after the surrounding building were erected. Street furniture that’s still going strong and being used for its original purpose after 100 years!


15) I couldn’t resist recording the fact that at Colliers Wood tube station I went passed the Infamous ‘Tower’, recently voted one of London’s greatest eyesores and a building that everyone in Colliers Wood would love to see removed. It has been likened to a scorched, post –apocalypse bunker but no doubt someone will buy it, tart it up and sell the penthouse suites with their extensive views of London for mega-bucks.


And that’s it for another lunchtime. But I’ve seen glimpses of the riches of Tooting and I’ll be casting my net further to the east next time!