Rye Lane reopening to buses, but permanent closure still looms

[Nigello]

Sterilised by no means equates to the what should be the essential shifting of the shit that accumulates daily or scrubbing the walls and shutters of scrawl. It needs more care and attention but the powers that be don't believe those who live there or use it are worthy of such common courtesies.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

There's no good reason why Rye Lane should be any less clean or safe than Lordship Lane or Bond Street for that matter. Deadbeat landlords, inconsiderate traders and an underperforming Council have had their way for long enough.

[alice]

I love Rye lane. I like feeling I live in a city. Lordship is fine but a bit like whitstable without the sea.

[malumbu]

The streetscape on the closed bit needs to be improved, properly precincted, with nicer laid out road/pavement combo (with or without buses). If done properly there could be better sharing of the road between bikes and people. The North section was so nice when they did it, but too narrow in the central lane, and you will see that buses have been long since mounting the curb and damaging that and the pavement. I tried taking this up with both Southwark and TfL a number of years ago, but got nowhere, dreadfully unjoined up (and this is from the person who generally tries to defend both bodies)

[Nigello]

So, to live in a city you have to have semi-deserted main roads that don't allow access to public transport, shop owners who deposit refuse (animal, vegetable) outside their properties and never bother to clean their frontages? It is poorer and more ethnically diverse than much of neighbouring East Dulwich so the authorities just allow it to stagnate, all the while thinking its "edginess" and "authenticity" will attract the trendies. Maybe the trendies came about ten years ago, but they've moved on and Southwark ought to make it a place to attract all kinds of people, by bus as well as e-scooter and fixie bike!

[Lynne]

Peckham Rye used to be a useful shopping street. Not LL by any means, but shops that people wanted to use. With a good bus service.

Now it's a tip and as Nigello says, it's not edgy, it's dirty, which is different

[alice]

It's always busy when I go, lots of new places opening. So there are plenty of people that like it. better with buses tho.

[Nigello]

Great that it is busy, not great taht it is neglected by business owners and the council and ends up mucky and uninviting. Buses may make it feel less like that, but work is still needed by councillors, officials and local businesses.

[DulwichFox]

Lynne Wrote:

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> Peckham Rye used to be a useful shopping street.

> Not LL by any means, but shops that people wanted

> to use. With a good bus service.

> Now it's a tip and as Nigello says, it's not edgy,

> it's dirty, which is different

Rye Lane / Peckham 1950's 60's 70's

Jones and Higgings (Gone)

Woolworth's (Gone)

C & A's x 2 (C&A was a Belgian-German-Dutch chain of fast-fashion retail clothing stores) (Gone)

Littlewoods (Gone)

Marks and Spencers (Gone)

British Home Stores (BHS) (Gone) Now Primaks.

Co-op Stores x 2 (Gone)

Colliers Furniture Carpet Store (Gone) Burnt down 60's 70's ??

Food

J Lyons & Co Tea rooms x 2 (Gone)

Bells Fish and Chips (Hill Street) With sit down at the Back. Was next to Manze Pie & Mash. (Gone)

Manze Pie & mash (Still there Opened 1927 )

Nathans Fish and Chips (Peckham Rd) (Gone)

Shoe Shops

Dolcis (Gone)

Stead and Simpson (Gone)

Bata (Gone)

Stylo (Gone)

Timpsons (Gone)

Cinemas

Odeon (Peckham rd.) (Gone)

Guamont (Gone)

Astoria (Old Kent Rd) (Gone)

Regal (Old Kent Road) (Gone)

Some of the shops and other places I can remember.

Pubs. Too numerous to count 30 + (Gone)

Foxy

[jazzer]

Kennedy's Cooked meats, cheese and pies (gone)

Halfords (gone)

Bonmarche (gone)

[richard tudor]

Ravel shoe shop.

Was there a Burtons, Hepworth Clothes shop?

Dunns, Mens outfitters

Mothercare.

Many independent mens fashion shops.

[alice]

Not many shops from the 50s left in lordship Lane nor many other High Streets.

[richard tudor]

Cannot remember Lordship Lane ever having any of these shops, you went to Rye Lane, West End of the South.

[Nigello]

There is a of course a place for street vendors, for pound shops and bargain emporiums, but it doesn't mean that the locale should be allowed to decay in appearance. I hope the buses will mean more attention will be paid to the Lane and that ageing hipsters who profess they love the Lane for its edginess and realness, etc. zzzzz, will recognise it is a space for all people, and that general tidiness and attractiveness doesn't mean sounding the death knell for the trendies.

[Drxyster]

Well done Foxy.

A few others Gone

Jacksons the tailors

James Walker (Jewellers)

Saunders (Jewellers)

Heinz & Co (Jewellers)

Saunders (Jewellers)

Times Furnishing (G Plan)

Broadmead Electrical (TVs Etc)

Rye Lane Arcade was bright and busy with loads of stalls, now dark and dismal.

An old fashioned Sainsburys.

Sidney Fox (Tailors)

Rossis Ice cream Parlour

Elmer James (Southern Fried Chicken, Like KFC but much better.

Fine Fare Supermarket.

Reeds Music / Record shop.

[DulwichFox]

Drxyster Wrote:

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> Well done Foxy.

> A few others Gone

> Jacksons the tailors

> James Walker (Jewellers)

> Saunders (Jewellers)

> Heinz & Co (Jewellers)

> Saunders (Jewellers)

> Times Furnishing (G Plan)

> Broadmead Electrical (TVs Etc)

> Rye Lane Arcade was bright and busy with loads of

> stalls, now dark and dismal.

> An old fashioned Sainsburys.

> Sidney Fox (Tailors)

> Rossis Ice cream Parlour

> Elmer James (Southern Fried Chicken, Like KFC but

> much better.

> Fine Fare Supermarket.

> Reeds Music / Record shop.

Yes.. remember all those..

Caters.. Was that in the covered market. or Choumert Road. ?

Choumert rd. Cheese and Bacon Shop. ?

Phil Keens School uniform shop.. and some nice clothes.. (teens) (in covered Market)

Pet shop in Market too.

Was in Manze's last week. My Mother used to go there 80+ years back.

She worked in Levisons shop next door (stationers)

She also worked in BHS war time.. She was caught in an air raid on Rye Lane where a German Plane

opened fire. She was young 15 ?? and a Man threw her under the tail gate of a lorry to protect her.

Foxy

[Pugwash]

I agree that parts of Rye Lane need to be 'smartened up' and more regular removal of waste left outside of shops. Choumert Road market was a lively place in the 1970s and 1980s with many stalls. I cannot remember last time I went up this street. Iceland moving over the road allowed it to stock more goods. The bus stop outside the station has very narrow pavements and trying to get off the bus there can be difficult due to the numbers of people standing in this space not always waiting for bus. I find Khans a useful shop for a variety of goods (food and non food).

[se22cat]

Spectrum (micro computer shop) gone

The firetrap cinema gone

Zodiac Toys gone

[JohnL]

se22cat Wrote:

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> Spectrum (micro computer shop) gone

>

> The firetrap cinema gone

>

> Zodiac Toys gone

These are such 80s names (and Zodiac if you watch Netflix is only one thing unfortunately)

[JohnL]

Nigello Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> So, to live in a city you have to have

> semi-deserted main roads that don't allow access

> to public transport, shop owners who deposit

> refuse (animal, vegetable) outside their

> properties and never bother to clean their

> frontages?

I've watched the coffee shop and the undertakers and others paint and re-paint their shutters - and it's not people who live in Rye Lane putting graffiti all over it - the only time I actually saw someone do it he looked very middle class and was with his girlfriend who waited for him to finish with the spray can.

[JohnL]

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Shoe Shops

>

> Dolcis (Gone)

> Stead and Simpson (Gone)

> Bata (Gone)

> Stylo (Gone)

> Timpsons (Gone)

In the original "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" book they talked about the shoe shop event horizon where shoe shops expanded uncontrollably to take over the world.

I remember loads of shoe shops too - and we didn't think it was a good thing at the time, strange how things change.

[kiera]

According to last night's zoom meeting, the reopening of Rye Lane to buses will be on 18th October. I only watched about half of it because of problem with wi-fi and then zoom using up too much of my mobile data.

Most of the audience's contributions seemed to me to be from supporters of closure. I switched off at the point where one such supporter was emphasising how much better it is at the moment for the disabled, as it's much easier for a wheelchair user to use the road than the pavement.

The points were made about need for connectivity of buses with the station and the council's very poor attempts at consultation.

[intexasatthe moment]

DulwichFox - this is a great read if you care to download it

https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1104819&recordType=GreyLitSeries

[Drxyster]

Hi Foxy,

Caters was in fact in the Arcade, at the top as you walked up from Rye Lane, turn left there was Caters, famous for selling broken biscuits cheaply. Next door was Fox's fresh fish shop. I used to collect news papers from neighbours on Saturday morning in a wheelbarrow, deliver them to Mr Fox, who paid me one and six for them (Eighteen old pence)

The pet shop I also remember I bought a Labrador Collie cross from there in the early seventies, he lived to the age of eighteen.

[jazzer]

The fruit & veg stall that used to be between Iceland and McDonalds (gone)

Electrical shop on same corner (gone)

The newspaper stall on the corner of Blenheim Grove and Rye Lane (gone)

Tobacconist on the opposite corner (gone)

Times furnishing (gone)

Fads (gone)

Deli in Station Way (gone)