Railton Road Explained

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
• 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
• Black Panther Movement
• 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

See also

• Herne Hill

External links

• Then and Now: Railton Road by Effra Parade
• 121 Centre, Railton Road - 1981-1999
• Railton Road, Herne Hill, c. 1950

51.4571°N -0.1072°W

Notes and References

1. News: Man arrested over Deliveroo driver death in Brixton shooting where rapper also killed . Mirror.
2. Book: Ford. Tanisha C.. Kelley. Robin D. G.. etal. The Other Special Relationship: Race, Rights, and Riots in Britain and the United States. 2015. Palgrave Macmillan. 9781137392718. https://books.google.com/books?id=u1IMCgAAQBAJ&q=+%22railton+road%22&pg=PT244. Violence at Desmond's Hip City: Gender and Soul Power In London.
3. Book: Baker. Rob. Beautiful Idiots and Brilliant Lunatics: A Sideways Look at Twentieth-Century London. 2015. Amberley Publishing. 9781445651200.
4. The Herne Hill Society Newsletter. 103, Summer 2008. 14 August 2016.
5. Book: Kenan. Malik. From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and Its Legacy. 2012. Atlantic Books. 9780857899132.
6. Web site: 2015-07-05. Stories from Railton Road. 2020-06-07. Brixton Advice Centre. en.
7. https://brixtonblog.com/2017/04/darcus-howe-fighter-for-black-peoples-rights/43657/?cn-reloaded=1 "Darcus Howe – fighter for Black people’s rights"
8. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/c-l-r-james/ "CLR James | Writer | Blue Plaques"
9. 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.
10. Book: Fisher. Tracey. What's Left of Blackness: Feminisms, Transracial Solidarities, and the Politics of Belonging in Britain. 2012. Palgrave Macmillan. 9780230339170.
11. Web site: railton road... the frontline etc. urban75 forums. 19 February 2007 . en-US. 2019-04-18.
12. Web site: The history of the 121 Centre, a squatted community anarchist centre on 124 Railton Road, Brixton, London SE24. www.urban75.org. 2019-04-18.
13. Book: Feather. Stuart. Blowing the Lid: Gay Liberation, Sexual Revolution and Radical Queens. 2016. John Hunt Publishing. 9781785351440.
14. Web site: The Brixton Fairies and the South London Gay Community Centre, Brixton 1974-6. editor. 2012-02-14. urban75 blog. en-US. 2019-04-18.