When was balham built

Bedford Hill became a magnet for street prostitutes, and the cavernous Bedford was best avoided by all but amateur pugilists.

Balham, though, is back. The Lawson boom of the s was followed in the s by the Brown bubble. The bonus-rich financiers of the City looked south. Clapham had been oversold; Balham offered big houses and three commons. He has been selling in south London for more than nine years and in Balham for six. Space, big gardens, private prep schools and first-class transport links are among the obvious attractions. Slightly smaller double-fronted villas in the Nightingale Triangle are approaching the same figure.

Jeremy Heywood, the UK cabinet secretary, snapped one up for a bargain million-and-a-bit some years ago. On the other side of the high street, the prostitutes have long since departed and The Bedford is a thriving music and comedy venue.

Progress has occasional downsides: cupcakes and artisan bread have replaced cassavas, yams and sweet potato in Hildreth Street market. Rising rents forced out the cheerful Caribbean music store. As for the Bravo case, well, it could never have ended happily.

Charles was interred among the gothic chapels of West Norwood Cemetery. Free again, Florence took to the bottle. Within a couple of years, she too had been poisoned — though this time with alcohol. Manage cookies. If you think the same, join us. A look back at a dark and mysterious episode in the history of a neighbourhood now favoured by City bankers and executives.

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Search the FT Search. World Show more World. The development includes a swimming pool, cinema and restaurant as well as an extra-care facility. Sixty Culverden Road is the conversion of a double-fronted Victorian house into seven flats and a one-bedroom mews house. Basilica Mews basilicamews.

Balham is also popular with young sharers, who go for two-bedroom flats or four-bedroom houses. A shortage of homes to rent is taking rental levels back to their level. One of the trends is for longer lets, with most break clauses averaging 24 months. Balham is on the Northern line and trains to Victoria take 15 minutes.

Balham is a busy place with plenty of places to eat and drink from breakfast through to dinner. Also in Bedford Hill is Sam Ubhi, a jewellery designer. Balham had a Polish community long before its accession to the European Union and there is a famous Polish restaurant in the White Eagle Club. No one in Balham is far from a common.

Clapham, Wandsworth and Tooting commons are popular with families, runners and dog walkers and bring a little countryside to each corner of the neighbourhood. The Exhibit, a bar and restaurant in Balham Station Road, has a cinema which puts on dog-friendly screenings. There is outdoor swimming at the Tooting Bec Lido in Tooting Bec Road — its brightly coloured changing-room doors make it one of the most photographed lidos in the country — and there is indoor swimming at the Balham Leisure Centre in Elmfield Road.

Balham, Wandsworth and Clapham are family areas with a high concentration of schools both state and private. Emanuel co-ed, ages 11 to 18 in Battersea Rise is the local private secondary school. ES Money. The Escapist. With Balham's staying power not in question, those little ones can grow into big ones at the area's two 'Outstanding' comprehensives Chestnut Grove Academy and La Retraite RC for girls.

There's a saying in Balham that you're never more than a few steps away from a latte. And it's true! The area is known for its independent coffee shops and retail stores, with Milk on Hildreth Street being the pick of the bunch for a weekend brunch.

As well as the copious number of coffee shops and cafes in Balham, those looking for an evening meal also have plenty of options to choose from. On the restaurant front, Japanese, French, Italian and Nepalese eateries are all to be found in Balham, with Meza the best of the Lebanese bunch and Arlo's on Ramsden Road a must for lovers of good old steak and chips. Sandwiched between Clapham, Wandsworth and Tooting commons means Balham is definitely not short of green space among those lovely Edwardian and Victorian homes.

Fitness fanatics, when not running around the commons, usually head for Balham Leisure Centre's pool for a cool down and, perhaps, a browse around Hildreth Street Market afterwards. Once the caffeine has kicked in, it's time to head out into Wandsworth, which is not short of things to keep the children entertained. Try Battersea Park Children's Zoo, where monkeys, snakes and even sheep are all on show alongside great play parks.

If the little ones still have some energy to burn, head to Eddie Catz soft play centre in Earlsfield, which also has a cafe and WiFi if you grown-ups are starting to feel worn out!

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