Portland Road, South Norwood: disused launderette
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Portland Road, South Norwood: disused launderette by Christopher Hilton as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

Image: © Christopher Hilton Taken: 3 Jun 2005
Portland Road is not an affluent area by a long way, and that seems to have meant that a lot of the shops in it were never subjected to expensive, trendy makeovers. Launderettes, as a type, seem particularly prone to lasting in their original form, presumably because if you have no washing machine you need to get your clothes washed somewhere whatever, and aren't swayed into impulse visits by trendy marketing. This establishment at 236 Portland Road lasted into the 21st century, but had bitten the dust when this photo was taken in 2005 and became a health food shop shortly after.