Memory Lane
A few of the colourful characters who have lived or worked in Peckham or Nunhead.We welcome letters from members and those with an interest in Peckham. Where possible we will reply, but not necessarily by return. As you will see below many letters appear on our website and many from our members are also published in our quarterly magazine, Peckham Society News.
Peckham Multi Storey Car Park relisted as Asset of Community Value (ACV) – PeckhamPlex included
6 years ago the Peckham Multi-Storey Car Park building was on the council's demolition list. Peckham Vision, led by Eileen Conn, worked hard to save it then by getting it out of the Southwark Plan, and showed that local people working together can change decisions in...
The Peckham Society News Issue 173 Summer 2023 now available
Members of The Peckham Society are about to receive the Summer 2023 issue No. 173 of Peckham Society News through their letterboxes.. This new issue is packed with interesting articles on past Peckham and current news as well, including a fascinating history of...
Tim Charlesworth, author of The Architecture of Peckham, RIP
It is with great sadness we announce the death of Tim Charlesworth earlier in August. His book, The Architecture of Peckham, published by the well known and respected Chener Books in 1988 was one of the first modern history books about the architecture of the area,...
OLD HOUSES OF PECKHAM St Mary-le-Strand House: from workhouse to bleachers and galvanometers
This large house formerly stood in Charles Street, just off the Old Kent Road roughly where Drovers Place is today. It was built by the parochial authorities of St Mary le Strand to serve as a workhouse; the foundation stone was laid on 29 June 1811 by Strand...
Reunion for Evacuees
From: James Roffey, Chief Executive, The Evacuees Reunion Association, The Mill Business Centre, Mill Hill, Gringley-on-the-Hill, Nottinghamshire DN10 4RA. On Friday 1 September 1939 thousands of children from all parts of London were evacuated due to the imminent...
Air raid shelters
From: Veronica Alden by email I remember the air raid shelters on Peckham Rye. When I was a child in the 1950s they were a great place to play. We would all go to the shelters and run up to the top and then jump off which was quite a height. They were a great place to...
Bombing and evacuation
From: John Smith Irby-In-The-Marsh I was born in Marsden Road in 1936 and my earliest childhood memory is of hearing bombs screaming down from the sky in 1940. I was in our Anderson air-raid shelter with my mum and sister Pauline, in the garden of our house, in Tell...
Perkins family of Peckham
From: Ted Perkins Some years ago I contacted the Peckham Society while searching for WWII memorials in the Peckham area and, despite your help, nothing was found. The following account stems from that contact and may be of interest to your supporters. It highlights...
Reg Harris (1920-1992), cyclist and Reg Harrison’s cycle shop
From: Audrey McCall Hastings In the early 1950s my 15-year-old brother worked in Reg Harrison’s cycle shop at 41 Queen’s Road; it had a workroom behind. They made and assembled bicycles which arrived in many pieces. The marque mentioned was then affixed to these...