Railton Road

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

See also

• Herne Hill

References