Railton Road

Street in London Borough of Lambeth

Railton Road runs between Brixton and Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth. The road is designated the B223. At the northern end of Railton Road it becomes Atlantic Road, linking to Brixton Road at a junction where the Brixton tube station is located. At the southern end is Herne Hill railway station.

History

The 1981 Brixton riot started here. The George public house was burnt down and a number of other buildings were damaged, and the area became known as the "Front Line". The George was replaced with a Caribbean bar called Mingles in 1981, which lasted in one form or another (later called Harmony) as a late-night mostly Caribbean-British attended club/bar until the 2000s. Despite its reputation as run-down, violent and racially tense – a "no-go" area – it was a hotbed of Afro-Caribbean culture, radical political activity and working-class community.

On 30 October 2022, 21-year-old Deliveroo driver Guilherme Messias Da Silva, and 27-year-old Lemar Urquhart were killed as a result of a gang-related incident on Railton Road. Da Silva was fatally injured after his moped collided with a car being driven by Urquhart who was at the time of the collision being pursued by another vehicle. Urquhart escaped his car before being chased down and fatally shot. Unable to be resuscitated, both died at the scene. As of April 2024, two arrests have been made in connection with the killings.^[1]

Notable people

Pearl Alcock^[2]
Winifred Atwell opened "The Winifred Atwell Salon" at 82a Railton Road in 1956^[3]
Rotimi Fani-Kayode lived and died at 151 Railton Road^[4]
Darcus Howe^[5]
Leila Hassan, editor of Race Today^[6]
Linton Kwesi Johnson^[5]
C. L. R. James lived and died at 165 Railton Road, where in 2004 English Heritage erected a blue plaque.^[7]^[8]^[9]
Olive Morris lived at 121 Railton Road^[10]

Notable organisations

198 Contemporary Arts and Learning
121 Centre at 121 Railton Road
- The centre was home to a bookshop, a cafe, a meeting room, and offices for organisations such as The Anarchist Black Cross and the Faredodgers Association.
- It also hosted the legendary club night Dead by Dawn, and early sets by artists such as Hectate.^[11]
- It was squatted as the 121 Centre from 1981 to 1999, making it one of London's longest continuous squats.^[12] When it was evicted, Railton Road held a number of street parties mourning the loss of the important community asset.
- The building has now been converted into flats.
Brixton Black Women's Group at 121 Railton Road^[2]
Black Panther Movement^[2]
South London Gay Community Centre, GLF and Brixton Fairies at number 78^[13]^[14]
- The building has now been knocked down and converted into luxury apartments, with no reference to its past
Race Today Collective at 165 Railton Road

Gallery

Blue Plaque at 165 Railton Road
198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, 198 Railton Road

References

^ "Man arrested over Deliveroo driver death in Brixton shooting where rapper also killed". Mirror.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ford, Tanisha C. (2015). "Violence at Desmond's Hip City: Gender and Soul Power In London". In Kelley, Robin D. G.; et al. (eds.). The Other Special Relationship: Race, Rights, and Riots in Britain and the United States. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137392718.
^ Baker, Rob (2015). Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics: A Sideways Look at Twentieth-Century London. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445651200.
^ "The Herne Hill Society Newsletter" (PDF) (103, Summer 2008). Retrieved 14 August 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ^a ^b Kenan, Malik (2012). From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and Its Legacy. Atlantic Books. ISBN 9780857899132.
^ "Stories from Railton Road". Brixton Advice Centre. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ "Darcus Howe – fighter for Black people’s rights", Brixton Blog, 2 April 2017.
^ "CLR James | Writer | Blue Plaques". English Heritage.
^ Leila Hassan, Robin Bunce and Paul Field, "Books | Here to Stay, Here to Fight: On the history, and legacy, of 'Race Today'", Ceasefire, 31 October 2019.
^ Fisher, Tracey (2012). What's Left of Blackness: Feminisms, Transracial Solidarities, and the Politics of Belonging in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230339170.
^ "railton road... the frontline etc". urban75 forums. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
^ "The history of the 121 Centre, a squatted community anarchist centre on 124 Railton Road, Brixton, London SE24". www.urban75.org. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
^ Feather, Stuart (2016). Blowing the Lid: Gay Liberation, Sexual Revolution and Radical Queens. John Hunt Publishing. ISBN 9781785351440.
^ editor (14 February 2012). "The Brixton Fairies and the South London Gay Community Centre, Brixton 1974-6". urban75 blog. Retrieved 18 April 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)