IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Gordon Grove, LONDON, SE5 9DU

An important green space off Gordon Grove and beside the raised railway (right, with arches) north of Loughborough Junction.

As http://www.urban75.org/brixton/bars/wickwood-tavern.html reports, the pub, which was built in 1868 (the date appears in the plaque on top of the angle), closed in 2000. This is the crossroads of Flaxman Road (left) with Eastlake Road (right) / Gordon Grove (foreground).

Another view of the pub shown in Image, from across Lilford Road. The road crossing it is Flaxman Road. Could there be a connection with the fact that a pair of stones called Robin Hood and Little John are beside the River Nene (near Peterborough), as is a village called Lilford (abeit a lot further upstream)? Probably not.

By the gate, the yellow-painted sign in the shape of a running man focuses on the dangers of high blood pressure and how to reduce the risk; see Image Another sign inside the gate reads: Elam Street Open Space Welcome to Elam Street Elam Street Open Space provides local people with a ‘green lung’ for play, exercise and relaxation, and to escape the pressures of everyday life. Built on land once occupied by housing, it has been landscaped to include a wetland area crossed by a boardwalk, and a popular playground. Interestingly, part of the wetland embankment is made up of old granite kerbstones which once belonged in Foreign Street, which once stood on this site. Not far away from Elam Street Open Space is a former period pub, the Wickwood Tavern, built in 1868. This gives us a clue to what was here before the housing. ‘Wickwood’ was the name of a small wood belonging to the Manor of Lambeth Wick, which extended from here to the corner of Loughborough Road and Coldharbour Lane. Wickwood was originally owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury and used for hunting. Later on many of the trees were cut down for building ships and homes, and in time were used for farming and then housing. Help us look after your parks and open spaces This site is managed by Lambeth Parks and Greenspaces and patrolled by the Lamabeth Parks Rangers. To help us keep the site clean and safe, or for further information, please report any problems or contact us on 020 7926 9000 or at [email protected]

This is a close-up of the text of the sign at the Foreign Street gate to the Elam Street Healthy Living Site: see Image It focuses on the risks of high blood pressure and how to reduce them. Note the logos of seven organisations on the sign. No doubt the emphasis on health has secured funding for the creation of this little park.

Elam Street is a short street of residential properties of mixed ages.

Small business units are neighbour to one of many such churches for mainly African and Afro-Caribbean congregations. Glorious Family Church is an arm of Glorious International Ministries: "Raising a people for God's glory". On Sundays local streets are vibrant with worshippers in colourful Sunday best and engaged in high-spirited chatter.

Lilford House, nearest, and its neighbour Brigstock House are shown in outline on an OS map of 1938; built on a map of 1949-54. The pale brick block is Winterslow House. The estate is in the London Borough of Lambeth.