Upper Street, London

Today we are on Upper Street in North London. The road has one of the weirdest numbering systems, as I found to my cost walking up and down trying to find the shop twentytwentyone at 274 - 275 Upper Street to buy one of Simon Phipps's fabulous brutalist architecture prints (of the Barbican centre since you ask, goes well with the Paul Catherall print of the same building).

But on to the clocks. First up is this nice simple design at Zee & Co, just a shame that it isn't working.

Further up the road is the Slug and Lettuce. No time to stop for refreshments - still trying to find the shop.

The building does have this rather worn street name plate to prove that we are indeed on Upper Street.

A bit further up we come to the church of St Mary. Originally dating from 1754, much of the building was rebuilt following damage in the Second World War.

Note the different style of the dial on the north and south faces.

Our final clock of the day is to be found on the Union Chapel (technically it is on Compton Terrace which runs parallel to the main road).

The building has this amazing tower which is so out of keeping with its neighbouring houses, and all the better for it.

However I do wonder what other purposes it is used for - whilst taking the picture, a local "character" said he hoped I wasn't going to jump off it. Is there a history of this?

The key dates of the building are set out a this plaque:

 

 

Time to go, and time to visit somewhere outside of London again.....

Norbury to Brixton

Today we take a nice long walk from Norbury to Brixton in south London.

As so often, our starting point is a railway station, in this case Norbury.

A very unremarkable ticket hall, with a very unremarkable clock. So no remarks to be made.

Out on the road now, which is the A23. Our destination is northwards, but first a short diversion to the south, arriving at the Norbury Complex. I think that is a bar / club rather than a psychological disorder, but you never know. Either way, the time there is always "Guinness Time".

Or rather it would be if the minute hand wasn't broken.

 

Let's get back on track, walk past Norbury station again (have I mentioned its clock? No, I won't have done as it is unremarkable) and head north to this small clock tower.

 

The building was originally part of an industrial complex (there's that word again), but is now a Sainsbury's supermarket. All credit to the new occupiers, they have kept the clock in a good condition.

I think the building was originally a textile mill.

 

 

Close by is the parish church of Immanuel and St Andrew.

 



 

The church was built in 1854, with the tower coming later in 1865. The tower is now the only part of the original church that remains.

 

 

 

A bit further up the road (and we are still on the A23) at the junction with Hopton Road is Century House.



This is a more modern clock on an "industrial" backdrop. I love the simplicity of simply having numerals attached directly to the wall with no other dial feature. Also I like the cool blue against the grey background, and the way that the numbers cast shadow streaks in the grime.

On now to St Leonards church.

The clock was manufactured by Chas. Penton of Moorfields in 1779.

 

Time for some serious civic building now. This is Streatham Library, opened in 1890 after the project was supported by a donation of £5,000 from Henry Tate (of Tate & Lyle fame).

 

The architect was Sidney RJ Smith, who also designed the Tate Gallery.

The clock was added in 1912 as a memorial to King Edward VII.

I really love this next clock at Balfe's Bikes. Not only does it stand out in its bright orange and white colours, but it shows some imagination in making a specific reference to the purpose of the building.

This definitely receives my Clock of the Year (so far) Award.

 

I have a feeling that this next clock may appear again on this blog. The clue is in the third picture, and it is a contender for the Londonopoly series.

 

 

 Moving on to the junction with Blenheim Gardens.

 

I don't know anything about this building, although I am taking a wild guess that it was built in 1914.

This part of the world seems to be permanently at 12 o'clock, as witnessed by the clock above and below.

This is the Lambeth Senior Citizens Day Centre at the New Testament Church of God, formerly known as St Saviours, located at the junction of Lambert Road and St Saviours Road.

The clock is in very poor condition as witnessed by the number of missing hands and the damage to the dial. They may look after senior citizens in Lambeth, but not senior clocks (the church was built in 1874).

Finally we arrive in Brixton, just in time for a heavy rain shower (if you have been observant you will have seen the sky turn from bright blue, through clouding over, to dark clouds). That is one reason why I haven't included the clocks of Brixton. The second is that I thought I had already done a posting on Brixton, but apparently not. One for a future day then.

Anyway, this is the church of St Matthew (built 1822) in the gloom.

 

 

And here endeth our trip along the A23.