Brixton - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth

London Borough of Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...

in south

South London

South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England. It is 3.8 miles (6.1 km) south south-east of Charing Cross

Charing Cross

Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...

. The area is identified in the London Plan

London Plan

The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London, England in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended. The current version was published in February 2008...

as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.

Brixton is mainly residential with a prominent street market and substantial retail sector. It is a multiethnic community, with around 24 percent of its population being of African and Caribbean descent,. It lies within Inner

Inner London

Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. The area was first officially defined in 1965 and for purposes such as statistics, the definition has changed over time. The terms Inner London and Central...

South London

and is bordered by Stockwell

Stockwell

Stockwell is a district in inner south west London, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth.It is situated south south-east of Charing Cross. Brixton, Clapham, Vauxhall and Kennington all border Stockwell...

, Clapham

Clapham

Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...

, Streatham

Streatham

Streatham is a district in Surrey, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

, Camberwell

Camberwell

Camberwell is a district of south London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located southeast of Charing Cross. To the west it has a boundary with the London Borough of Lambeth.-Toponymy:...

, Tulse Hill

Tulse Hill

Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London, England. It lies to the south of Brixton, east of Brixton Hill, north of West Norwood and west of West Dulwich.-History:...

and Herne Hill

Herne Hill

Herne Hill is located in the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London. There is a road of the same name which continues the A215 north of Norwood Road and was called Herne Hill Road.-History:...

. The district houses the main offices of the London Borough of Lambeth.

History

The name Brixton is thought to originate from Brixistance, meaning the stone of Brixi, a Saxon lord. Brixi is thought to have erected a boundary stone to mark the meeting place of the ancient hundred court

Brixton (hundred)

Brixton Hundred or the Hundred of Brixton was an ancient hundred in the north east of the county of Surrey, England. Its area has been entirely absorbed by the growth of London; with its name currently referring to the Brixton district...

of Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

. The location is unknown but is thought to be at the top of Brixton Hill

Brixton Hill

Brixton Hill is the name given to a 1 km section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. It slopes downhill towards central London.Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road...

, at a road known at the time as Bristow or Brixton Causeway, long before any settlement in the area. Brixton marks the rise from the marshes of North Lambeth

Lambeth

Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

up to the hills of Upper Norwood

Upper Norwood

Upper Norwood is an elevated area in south London, England within the postcode SE19. It is a residential district largely in the London Borough of Croydon although some parts extend into the London Borough of Lambeth, London Borough of Southwark and the London Borough of Bromley. Upper Norwood...

and Streatham

Streatham

. At the time the River Effra

River Effra

The River Effra is a river in south London, England. It is now mainly underground. The name cannot be traced back much earlier than 1840 , so speculation that it came from a Celtic word for torrent is unwarranted...

flowed from its source in Upper Norwood

Upper Norwood

through Herne Hill

Herne Hill

to Brixton. At Brixton the river was crossed by low bridges for Roman roads to the south coast of Britain, now Brixton Road and Clapham Road. The main roads were connected through a network of medieval country lanes, such as Acre Lane, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton Water Lane and Lyham Road, formerly Black Lane. It was only at the end of the 18th Century that villages and settlements formed around Brixton, as the original woodland was gradually reduced until the area was covered in farmland

Farmland

Farmland generally refers to agricultural land, or land currently used for the purposes of farming. It may also refer to:*Arable land, land capable of cultivating crops*Farmland, Indiana, a town in the United States...

and market garden

Market garden

A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...

known for game and strawberries.

The area remained undeveloped until the beginning of the 19th century, the main settlements being near Stockwell

Stockwell

, Brixton Hill

Brixton Hill

and Coldharbour Lane

Coldharbour Lane

Coldharbour Lane is a road in South London that leads south-westwards from Camberwell to Brixton. In total the road is over 1 mile long with a mixture of residential, business and retail buildings - the stretch of Coldharbour Lane near Brixton Market contains shops, bars and restaurants...

. With the opening of Vauxhall Bridge

Vauxhall Bridge

Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a south–east north–west direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank...

in 1816 improved access to Central London

Central London

Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...

led to a process of suburban development. The largest single development, and one of the last in suburban character, was Angell Town, laid out in the 1850s on the east side of Brixton Road

Brixton Road

Brixton Road is a road in the London Borough of Lambeth , leading from the Oval at Kennington to Brixton, where it forms the high street and then forks into Effra Road and Brixton Hill at St Mathews church at the crossroads with Acre Lane and Coldharbour Lane...

, and so named after a family which owned land in Lambeth

Lambeth

Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

from the late 17th century until well into the 20th.

One of a few surviving windmill

Ashby's Mill, Brixton

Ashby's Mill is a restored grade II* listed tower mill at Brixton in the London Borough of Lambeth. The mill was in Surrey when built and has been preserved..-History:...

s in London, built in 1816, and surrounded by houses built during Brixton's Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

expansion, is to be found just off Brixton Hill. The nearby 'Windmill' pub is named after it. When the London sewerage system was constructed during the mid-19th century, its designer Sir Joseph Bazalgette incorporated flows from the River Effra

River Effra

, which used to flow through Brixton, into his 'high-level interceptor sewer', also known as the Effra sewer.

Brixton transformed into a middle class suburb between the 1860s and 1890s. Railways linked Brixton with the centre of London when the Chatham Main Line

Chatham Main Line

The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...

was built through the area by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway

London, Chatham and Dover Railway

The London, Chatham and Dover Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1859 until the 1923 grouping which united it with other companies to form the Southern Railway. Its lines ran through London and northern and eastern Kent to form a significant part of the Greater London...

in the 1860s. In 1880, Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, London. Built in the 1880s, it was the first market street to be lit by electricity. Today, the street contains several butchers and fish mongers and hosts a part of Brixton Market, which specializes in selling a mix of African, Caribbean, and Portuguese...

was so named after it became the first street in London to be lit by electricity

Street light

A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...

. In this time large expensive houses were constructed along the main roads in Brixton, which were converted into flats and boarding houses at the turn of the century as the middle class

Middle class

The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

es were replaced by an influx of the working class

Working class

Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...

es. By 1925 Brixton attracted thousands, amongst others housing the largest shopping centre in South London

South London

at the time, as well as a thriving market, cinemas, pubs and a theatre. In the 1920s Brixton was the shopping capital of South London with three large department stores and some of the earliest branches of what are now Britain's major national retailers. Today Brixton Road is the main shopping area, fusing into Brixton Market

Brixton Market

Brixton Market comprises a street market in the centre of Brixton, south London, England, and the adjacent covered market areas in nearby arcades Reliance Arcade, Market Row and Granville Arcade ....

. The dominant building on Brixton High Street (472-488 Brixton Road), "Morleys Of Brixton" is an independent department store that survives from the 1920s.

The Brixton area was bombed during World War II, contributing to a severe housing crisis, which in turn led to urban decay

Urban decay

Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...

. This was followed by slum clearances and the building of council housing. In the 1940s and 1950s many immigrants, particularly from the West Indies, settled in Brixton. More recent immigrants include a large Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

community (see Little Portugal) and other EU citizens. Brixton also has an increasingly ageing population which affects housing strategies in the area.

The Windrush generation

The first wave of immigrants (492 individuals) that formed the British African-Caribbean community

British African-Caribbean community

The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...

arrived in 1948 on the Empire Windrush from Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

and were temporarily housed in the Clapham South deep shelter. The nearest Labour Exchange (Jobcentre

Jobcentre Plus

Jobcentre Plus was a government agency for working-age people in Great Britain. The agency was formed when the Employment Service, which operated Jobcentres, merged with the Benefits Agency, which ran social security offices, and was re-named Jobcentre Plus on 1 April 2002...

) was on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, and the new arrivals spread out into local accommodation.

This first generation of the British African-Caribbean community

British African-Caribbean community

The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...

is referred to as the "Windrush Generation" and immigrated to Britain when the British Nationality Act 1948

British Nationality Act 1948

The British Nationality Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the status of "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies" as the national citizenship of the United Kingdom and its colonies....

gave all citizens of Commonwealth

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

countries the right of British citizenship. Britain was at the time considered the "Mother Country" of the Commonwealth. The Windrush was en route from Australia to England via the Atlantic, docking in Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

. An advertisement had appeared in a Jamaican newspaper offering cheap transport on the ship for anybody who wanted to come and work in Britain. Many only intended to stay in Britain for a few years, and although a number returned to the Caribbean, the majority remained to settle permanently. The arrival of the passengers has become an important landmark in the history of modern Britain, and the image of West Indians filing off its gangplank has come to symbolise the beginning of modern British multicultural

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

society. In 1998 the area in front of the Tate Library in Brixton was renamed "Windrush Square" to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush.

Brixton riots

There were riots circa 1880, as electicity was first introduced in London, with opponents calling it the "The invisible Killer".
Brixton was the scene of riots in April 1981 at a time when Brixton underwent deep social and economic problems — high unemployment

Unemployment

Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...

, high crime

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

, poor housing, no amenities — in a predominantly African-Caribbean community

British African-Caribbean community

The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...

. The Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

began Operation Swamp 81 at the beginning of April, aimed at reducing street crime

Street crime

Street crime is a loose term for criminal offences taking place in public places. It has moved to occupy the place once held by mugging. According to London's Metropolitan Police Force, street crime is:...

, mainly through the heavy use of the so-called sus law

Sus law

In England and Wales, the sus law was the informal name for a stop and search law that permitted a police officer to stop, search and potentially arrest people on suspicion of them being in breach of section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824.-1824 legislation:The power to act on "sus" was found in part...

, which allowed police to stop and search individuals on the basis of a mere 'suspicion' of wrong-doing. Plain clothes police officers were dispatched into Brixton, and in five days almost 1,000 people were stopped and searched. The riot resulted in almost 279 injuries to police and 45 injuries to members of the public; over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; and almost 150 buildings were damaged, with thirty burned. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved in the riot.

Following the 1981 Brixton riot the Government commissioned a public inquiry into the riot headed by Lord Scarman. The Scarman report

Scarman report

The Scarman report was commissioned by the UK Government following the 1981 Brixton riots. Lord Scarman was appointed by then Home Secretary William Whitelaw on 14 April 1981 to hold the enquiry into the riots...

was published in November 1981 and found unquestionable evidence of the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of 'stop and search' powers by the police against black people. The report made a number of recommendations and led to a new code for police behaviour in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, as well as providing codes of practice for the exercise of those powers. Part VI of PACE required the Home Secretary...

and the creation of an independent Police Complaints Authority in 1985. The 1999 Macpherson Report, an investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence was a black British teenager from Eltham, southeast London, who was stabbed to death while waiting for a bus on the evening of 22 April 1993....

found that recommendations of the 1981 Scarman report

Scarman report

had been ignored and concluded that the police force was "institutionally racist

Institutional racism

Institutional racism describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations , and universities . The term was coined by Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael in the late 1960s...

".

In the 1983 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1983

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

, the British National Party

British National Party

The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...

(BNP) obtained a Party Election Broadcast on television. The broadcast was transmitted on 31 May and consisted of John Tyndall

John Tyndall (politician)

John Hutchyns Tyndall was a British politician who was prominently associated with several fascist/neo-Nazi sects. However, he is best known for leading the National Front in the 1970s and founding the contemporary British National Party in 1982.The most prominent figure in British nationalism...

, flanked by two Union Flag

Union Flag

The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...

s, and images of the 1981 Brixton riot as Tyndall's speech attempted to encourage nationalism over racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

. The giving of television time to the BNP was controversial, and was debated on Right to Reply
Right to Reply
Right to Reply was a British television series shown on Channel 4 from 1982 until 2001, which allowed viewers to voice their complaints or concerns about TV programmes...

on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

.

The 1985 Brixton riot

Brixton riot (1985)

The Brixton riot of 1985 started on 28 September in Lambeth in South London.It was the second major riot that the area had witnessed in the space of four years....

followed the police shooting of a black woman, Dorothy 'Cherry' Groce, after the police entered her house looking for her son Michael Groce

Michael Groce

Michael Groce is a poet, community worker and former criminal. His name is remembered by many in connection with the Brixton riots of 1985 when his mother, Cherry Groce, was shot by police during a dawn raid on her home...

. Although the Brixton area subsequently saw pioneering community policing initiatives, the continued death of young black men in police custody (and in one case the death of a man pointing a fake gun at people) coupled with general distrust of the police led to smaller scale protests through the 1990s. The Brixton riots

Brixton riot (1995)

The Brixton riots of 1995 began on 13 December after the death of 26-year-old Wayne Douglas, in police custody. Douglas had a criminal history of robbery, assault, and theft. Just prior to his arrest he had broken into a the abode of a couple and robbed them at knifepoint just hours earlier...

in 1995 were initially sparked by the death of a black man in police custody (Wayne Douglas) and occurred in an atmosphere of discontent about the gentrification

Gentrification

Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...

of Brixton.

Former Prime Minister

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

John Major

Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...

's Brixton roots were used in a campaign poster during the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

's 1992 election campaign: "What does the Conservative Party offer a working class

Working class

kid from Brixton? They made him Prime Minister."

Brixton bombing

On 17 April 1999 neo-nazi

Neo-Nazism

Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....

bomber David Copeland

David Copeland

David John Copeland is a former member of the British National Party and the National Socialist Movement, who became known as the "London Nail Bomber" after a 13-day bombing campaign in April 1999 aimed at London's black, Bangladeshi and gay communities.Over three successive weekends between 17...

planted a nail bomb

Bomb

A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...

in Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue

, which exploded on a market day by the Iceland supermarket

Iceland (supermarket)

Iceland is a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Iceland's primary product lines include frozen foods, such as frozen prepared meals and frozen vegetables - hence the name of the company...

at the junction with Brixton Road

Brixton Road

(Brixton High Street). Around 50 people were injured. Copeland was sentenced to six life sentences in June 2000.

The Brixton bombing is reported to have targeted the black community in Brixton. Copeland also bombed Brick Lane

Brick Lane

Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...

, the heart of East London's Bangladeshi

British Bangladeshi

A British Bangladeshi is a person of Bangladeshi origin who resides in the United Kingdom having emigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose parents did so; they are also known as British Bengalis...

and Asian community, and the Admiral Duncan pub

Admiral Duncan pub

The Admiral Duncan is a pub in Old Compton Street, Soho in the heart of London's gay district. It is named after Admiral Adam Duncan, who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.- Bombing :...

in Soho

Soho

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

, London, frequented predominantly by the gay community. The BBC reports that Copeland intended to ignite a race war across Britain with his bombing campaign.

A 2009 play about the events, The First Domino
The First Domino
The First Domino is a fictional English play about a terrorist bomber, written by Jonathan Cash, who was injured in the 1999 bombing of the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, London....

, was written by one victim in the Soho attack.

JayDay Cannabis Festival

From 2001 to 2004 Brockwell Park

Brockwell Park

Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare park located between Brixton, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, bordered by Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill , and Dulwich Road in South London....

hosted the annual Cannabis Festival, or JayDay, organised by the Cannabis Coalition. The police reportedly maintained a low profile, tolerating the smoking of cannabis

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

. In 2005 the London Borough of Lambeth rejected the application for a further Cannabis Festival on the following grounds:

"While Lambeth Council supports freedom of speech and the right to take part in a legitimate campaign, the council cannot condone illegal activities such as cannabis use and drug pushing - both of which have taken place at a previous festival held by the Cannabis Coalition. Indeed council officers monitoring the event in the past were approached by drug dealers who offered them drugs."

Transition Town

Brixton was one of the first inner city based 'Transition Town

Transition Towns

Transition Towns is a grassroots network of communities that are working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability...

' projects in the UK. Brockwell Park

Brockwell Park

Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare park located between Brixton, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill, bordered by Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill , and Dulwich Road in South London....

hosts the now annual Urban Green Fair, first held in summer 2007.

Brixton Pound

The Brixton Pound was launched on 17 September 2009 by Transition Town Brixton. The Brixton Pound is a local currency

Local currency

In economics, a local currency, in its common usage, is a currency not backed by a national government , and intended to trade only in a small area. As a tool of fiscal localism, local moneys can raise awareness of the state of the local economy, especially among those who may be unfamiliar or...

that is available as an alternative to the pound sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

.
The first trading day of the Brixton Pound was on 18 September 2009 with 80 local businesses accepting the currency.

The Brixton Pound aims to boost the local economy and build a mutual support system amongst independent businesses by tying local shoppers to local shops and by encouraging local shops to source goods and services locally. The notes are available in B£1, B£5, B£10 and B£20 denominations and depict local celebrities such as the community activist Olive Morris

Olive Morris

Olive Morris was a community leader and active in the squatters' rights campaigns of the 1970s.Morris was a founder member of the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent and set up the Brixton Black Women's Group....

and the environmentalist James Lovelock

James Lovelock

James Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS is an independent scientist, environmentalist and futurologist who lives in Devon, England. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the biosphere is a self-regulating entity with the capacity to keep our planet healthy by controlling...

. Lambeth council has endorsed the project which the New Economics Foundation

New Economics Foundation

The New Economics Foundation is a British think-tank.NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit with the aim of working for a "new model of wealth creation, based on equality, diversity and economic stability"....

helped to develop.

On September 29th 2011, the Brixton Pound launched an electronic version of the currency where users can pay by text message.

A second issue of the paper currency was also launched, featuring a new set of Brixton Heroes. On the B£1, founder of the Black Cultural Archives, Len Garrison

Len Garrison

Lenford Garrison was an educationalist and historian whose life's work was to catalogue the development of the black British identity and its history and promote the works of young black writers...

, the B£5, Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng

Luol Deng

Luol Deng is a South Sudanese-British professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls and the Great Britain national basketball team. He plays the small forward position.-Early life:...

, David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

on the B£10 and on the B£20, WWII secret agent, Violette Szabo

Violette Szabo

Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo, GC, was a Second World War French-British secret agent.-Early life and marriage:...

.

The reverse of the notes, designed by Brixton agency This Ain't Rock'n'Roll, feature notable local landmarks such as the Stockwell Skatepark

Stockwell Skatepark

Stockwell Skatepark is situated on Stockwell Park Walk in South London, England. Unsupervised and free at all hours, the skatepark was built in the 1970s and has been used since then by skateboarders and practitioners of other extreme sports such as BMX...

, public art on Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue

, Nuclear Dawn – one of the Brixton murals

Brixton murals

The Brixton murals are a series of murals by local artists in the Brixton area, in London, UK. Most of the murals were funded by Lambeth London Borough Council and the Greater London Council after the Brixton riots in 1981....

– and the Stirling Prize-winning Evelyn Grace Academy

Evelyn Grace Academy

Evelyn Grace Academy is a non-selective, co-educational secondary school within the English Academy programme, in Brixton, London.The Academy opened in September 2008 in temporary accommodation admitting its first 180 Year 7 pupils. In September 2010 the academy moved to a new purpose built school...

. All four notes feature a design motif inspired by Coldharbour Lane's Southwyck House (or 'Barrier Block').

Housing estates

Brixton is home to six big housing estates:Stockwell Park Estate off Stockwell and Brixton Roads respectively; Myatts Field off Vassall Road; Angell Town off Brixton Road on the boundary with Camberwell; Loughborough in the centre of Brixton; Moorlands Estate, situated off Coldharbour Lane; St Matthew's, located in the fork between Brixton Hill and Effra Road; Tulse Hill a little further south of St. Matthews. The six estates account for a large part of the Brixton residence.

Estates like the Stockwell Park Estate and the Angell Town Estate were originally designed to accommodate high-level walkways which were envisaged to link the whole of Brixton. The ground floor garages of these estates have proved to be a major security problem. The Somerleyton Estate is dominated by Southwyck House (known locally as 'Barrier Block'), a large horseshoe-shaped brick and concrete 1970s structure which backs onto Coldharbour Lane. The 176-apartment block was originally constructed in this shape to provide a noise barrier

Noise barrier

A noise barrier is an exterior structure designed to protect sensitive land uses from noise pollution...

against Ringway 1

Ringway 1

Ringway 1 or the London Motorway Box was the innermost of the series of four motorway standard roads, known as the London Ringways as part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the Greater London Council to provide high speed motorway-standard roads within the capital linking a series of radial...

, a proposed inner-London motorway which was planned to pass through Brixton and Camberwell, later abandoned.

Some housing estates have been linked with urban decay

Urban decay

Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...

and crime. New gates and iron bars have been constructed for the Loughborough Estate around Loughborough Road and Minet Road in response to a number of murders around the estate. The Loughborough Estate is home to more than 3,000 families and a mix of 1940s low-rise buildings and 1960s/1970s tower blocks and houses. Problems of urban decay have been reported around Loughborough Junction

Loughborough Junction

Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the Borough of Lambeth, which lies on the borderline of Brixton and Camberwell. It is centred at a junction which consists of 6 railway bridges which can all be seen at once from the centre of the junction. Loughborough Junction can be found...

, the catchment area for Loughborough Estate, the Angell Town Estate and the Moorlands Estate.

Victorian buildings

Brixton still features some grand Victorian housing. As bridges were built across the Thames in the early 19th century those working in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

and the London West End moved to south London. The earliest built development was in Washway, now Brixton Road. With the enclosing of the Manor of Lambeth, owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, in 1806 and the opening of Vauxhall Bridge

Vauxhall Bridge

in 1816 development of terraced houses and detached villas started to line the main roads. St Matthew's Church in the centre of Brixton was consecrated in 1824, indicating a sizable population by this time. The Rush Common enclosure stipulations dictated that the large terraced and detached houses that were built along the main roads were set back from the road, allowing for generous gardens. The windmill was erected in 1816 by John Ashby on Brixton Hill

Brixton Hill

and the Surrey House of Correction, later Brixton prison, was established in 1819.

Brixton Market

With the arrival of the railway in Brixton in the 1870s a building boom set in and Brixton developed into a major shopping centre. The first purpose built department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

, Bon Marche, was opened on Brixton Road in 1877 and Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue

was one of the first shopping arcades to have electric lighting. The now famous Brixton Market

Brixton Market

Brixton Market comprises a street market in the centre of Brixton, south London, England, and the adjacent covered market areas in nearby arcades Reliance Arcade, Market Row and Granville Arcade ....

began in Atlantic Road and was moved to Station Road in the 1920s to ease traffic congestion. Brixton Market

Brixton Market

Brixton Market comprises a street market in the centre of Brixton, south London, England, and the adjacent covered market areas in nearby arcades Reliance Arcade, Market Row and Granville Arcade ....

is open every day selling a range of Afro-Caribbean products and reflects other communities in the local area with Indian and Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

ese supermarkets and South American butchers amongst the shops and stalls.. London Farmers' Markets opened a farmers market on Brixton Station Road in September 2009. It is open every Sunday from 10am-2pm.

Brixton murals

After the riots in 1981 a series of murals

Brixton murals

was funded by the council, although there is no evidence to show that murals have any direct correlation to the level of violence within a community. The murals portray nature, politics, community and ideas. the surviving murals include the Brixton Academy Mural (Stockwell Park Walk) by Stephen Pusey (1982) showing a mixed group of young people, intended to portray the natural harmony that could be found between children of mixed backgrounds in the local schools.

Entertainment

The Ritzy Cinema

Ritzy Cinema

The Ritzy is a cinema in Brixton, South London, United Kingdom.The cinema opened on 11 March 1911 as 'the Electric Pavilion'. It was built by E. C. Homer and Lucas for Israel Davis, one of a noted family of cinema developers, and was one of England's earliest purpose built cinemas seating over 750...

, Coldharbour Lane, is a formerly independent cinema now owned by Picturehouse Cinemas

Picturehouse Cinemas

Picturehouse Cinemas is a network of art house cinemas in the United Kingdom. it has 19 sites, all in England and Scotland.The first Picturehouse opened in Oxford in 1989, but many of its cinemas operated independently before being adopted by City Screen Ltd., the official trading name of the...

. The building was designed as the Electric Pavilion in 1910 by E. C. Homer and Lucas, one of England's first purpose-built cinemas.

Brixton has a significant clubbing

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

and live music scene. Large venues include Brixton Academy, The Fridge

The Fridge

The Fridge is a nightclub in the Brixton area of South London, founded by Andrew Czezowski, who had run the Roxy during punk music's heyday in 1977. It was originally started in 1981, in a small club at 390 Brixton Lane, and in 1982 above Iceland in Brixton Road with a radical decor that included...

and Mass at St Matthew's Church. A range of smaller venues such as The Prince Albert, The Prince / DexClub, The Windmill

The Windmill, Brixton

The Windmill is a pub and live music venue in Brixton, London, with a reputation for championing new music.The pub was built in 1971 for the adjacent Blenheim Gardens housing estate. It went through various phases of being a bar that attracted locals, bikers, the Irish community and by the end of...

, The Dogstar, Jamm, The Telegraph, Plan B, South Beach Bar, The 414, The Effra Tavern, Upstairs at the Ritzy, and The Grosvenor are a major part of London's live music scene. The Brixton Splash is an annual one-day street party held since 2006.

Brixton is also home to a 1970s purpose-built skatepark

Skatepark

A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, aggressive inline skating and scooters. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets,...

, named Stockwell Skatepark

Stockwell Skatepark

Brixton Synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

in Effra Road closed in 1986, the congregation amalgamating with the Streatham Synagogue. The front of the building still exists.

Christian churches

Brixton lies within the Anglican Diocese of Southwark

Anglican Diocese of Southwark

The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 44 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was formed on May 1, 1905 from part of the Diocese of Rochester...

. The grade II* listed St Matthew's Church, located on Brixton Green, was built in 1822 by the architect C. F. Porden in the Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

style. It is one of the "Waterloo churches" built to celebrate Britain's victory at the Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

. Today, its basement is used as the venue for the "Mass" nightclub.

The 1868 parish church of St Jude, located on Dulwich Road, was designed by the architect John Kirk of Woolwich

Woolwich

Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...

. It closed in 1975, and the parish merged with St Matthew's. The church building is today used as business premises by a publishing company.

Christ Church on Brixton Road

Christ Church Brixton Road

Christ Church on Brixton Road in Lambeth SW9 is an Art Nouveau and Byzantine-style Grade II* listed building built in 1902 by Beresford Pite.-External links:*...

is an Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

and Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

-style Grade II* listed building built in 1902 by Beresford Pite, and St Paul's church on Ferndale Road was originally built in 1958 as a Seventh-day Adventist

Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...

church by John Soper.

Brixton is under the remit of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark.

Brixton Mosque

The Masjid ibn Taymeeyah, or Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre, is located in Gresham Road, close to Brixton Police Station. The mosque has facilities for both men and women and space for 400 worshippers during prayer. Opened in 1990 it is one of the oldest mosques in South London. The mosque provides religious, social and financial support to its members.

The mosque made international headlines when it was reported that Richard Reid

Richard Reid (shoe bomber)

Richard Colvin Reid , also known as the Shoe Bomber, is a self-admitted member of al-Qaeda who pled guilty in 2002 in U.S. federal court to eight criminal counts of terrorism stemming from his attempt to destroy a commercial aircraft in-flight by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes...

, the so called "shoe bomber" had attended the mosque. Abdul Haqq Baker, chairman of Brixton Mosque told the BBC that Reid came to the mosque to learn about Islam but soon fell in with what he called "more extreme elements". Zacarias Moussaoui

Zacarias Moussaoui

Zacarias Moussaoui is a French citizen who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the US as part of the September 11 attacks...

, who was convicted of conspiring to kill citizens of the USA as part of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, made his initial steps into radical indoctrination in Brixton Mosque, where he met Reid, though he was expelled from the mosque after he turned up wearing combat fatigues and a backpack, and pressured the cleric to give him information on joining the jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

. Abdullah el-Faisal

Abdullah el-Faisal

Abdullah el-Faisal is a muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was convicted of stirring up racial hatred and urging his followers to murder Jews, Hindus, Christians, and...

, a radical Muslim cleric who preached in the UK until imprisoned for stirring up hatred and later deported to Jamaica in 2007, was associated with the Brixton Mosque and began preaching to crowds of up to 500 people, but was ousted by its Salafi

Salafi

A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...

administration in 1993.
Afterward, he gave a lecture he called The Devil's Deception of the Saudi Salafis, scorning the Salafi

Salafi

A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...

Muslims (especially the members of the Brixton Mosque), calling them hypocrites and apostates (takfir
Takfir
In Islamic law, takfir or takfeer refers to the practice of one Muslim declaring another Muslim an unbeliever or kafir...

).

Brixton was a site of a conference after the London bombings, at which local Muslims condemned all use of terror and indiscriminate killing. Footage of the conference was included in a 6-part ITV series called Mosque. It included local Muslims talking about the discrimination they face from people not able to differentiate between Muslims and terrorists, and the local Brixton community, on the whole, is described as welcoming towards Muslims.

Operation Swamp

Before the 1981 riot was the centre of Operation Swamp 81 aimed at reducing street crime

Street crime

mainly through the heavy use of the so-called sus law

Sus law

, which allowed police to stop and search individuals on the basis of a mere 'suspicion' of wrong-doing. Plainclothes police officers were dispatched into Brixton, and in five days almost 1,000 people were stopped and searched. The local community was not consulted about the operation and tensions between the black community and the police on the streets of Brixton reached breaking point. Local residents complained about young, inexperienced police officers being sent on the streets, provoking confrontation.

Gang culture

In 2003 The Independent reported that around 200 "hardcore Yardies" are based in Lambeth, some operating as members of "Firehouse Posse" or Brixton's "Cartel Crew". Yardies were historically associated with Jamaican immigrants and had a recognised stronghold in Brixton. Parts of Brixton were referred to as "Little Tivoli" after "Tivoli Gardens", a notorious "garrison community" in Jamaica ruled by gunmen. In 1999 a scandal broke over Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

detectives allowing two known Jamaican Yardies to stay in Britain as an intelligence tool. Eaton Green

Eaton Green

Eaton Green was a Yardie gang member involved in armed robbery, drug dealing and extortion in South London. The first Yardie to become a police informant for the Metropolitan Police, his later testimony during his 1997 deportation hearing would reveal police protection for his criminal activities...

, one of the Yardies, escaped bail in Jamaica in 1991 and settled in Brixton dealing in crack cocaine

Crack cocaine

Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...

. Three months later Green was arrested by a Brixton constable, Steve Barker, and became a paid informer. Green provided intelligence about Yardie activity for two years, continuing the use of firearms and the dealing of crack throughout this time.

Several gangs are headquartered in the Brixton area. The "Murderzone" (MZ) gang, which is involved in illegal drug dealing, hail from the Somerleyton Estate. The "Poverty Driven Children"/"Pil dem crew" (PDC/PDC) are located in the Angell Town and Loughborough Junction area. "Organised Crime" (OC), a gang linked with various shootings and an ongoing rivalry with the Peckham Boys

Peckham Boys

The Peckham Boys, also referred to as Black Gang, are a gang based in Peckham, South London. Its members are primarily Black British.The Peckham Boys are composed of several affiliated sets...

, are based in the Myatts Field Estate.

Members of these gangs are mostly in their late teens or early 20s, with gang leaders usually being childhood friends. Brought up in some of London's poorest areas some gang members reportedly move from house to house on an almost nightly basis, making it hard to track them. According to the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

these youth gangs are "far from organised criminal masterminds", however they continue to evade the police and have been responsible for numerous offences of homicide. Operation Trident officers stated that it is a "struggle" to persuade local people to testify, because of fear of reprisals. Trident officers stated that some gang members were "inept at handling powerful guns", and that gangs have machine guns, 9 mm. According to the detective many of the deactivated guns are shipped in from the Balkans and then reactivated.

Drugs

Some media commentators have called Brixton "the drugs capital of London" and Val Shawcross, Labour representative on the London Assembly

London Assembly

The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...

for Lambeth and Southwark, runs a "Brixton Drug Crime" campaign. She states on her website:

"I have been raising the disgraceful state of Brixton and the existence of an open drugs market in the centre - with the Council, Mayor and the Metropolitan police....The police, the Drugs and Firearms Unit and Transport Operational Unit officers have been undertaking long-term surveillance of the area(Brixton Town Centre) culminating in a three-day operation at the end of June to arrest those dealing Class A drugs...The police will be carrying out continuing covert operations in Brixton and patrolling with drug detection dogs. This is a long-term crackdown with the aim on cleaning the dealers out of Brixton."(retrieved July 2008)

Brixton has a reputation for cannabis

Cannabis

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

use, and the BBC has quoted a local resident as saying "People have always smoked cannabis in Brixton - everyone knows that, people have walked down the street smoking spliffs for years." This reputation was amplified by the "softly softly" police approach to cannabis that was piloted in Brixton in 2001 to 2005. Concerns were raised about "drug tourism" to the area. The "softly-softly" pilot occurred in the context of a wider debate in Britain about the classification of cannabis. Despite the pilot being stopped and replaced by a "no deal" policy, the Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

was in favour of a reclassification of cannabis from class B to class C. Cannabis was officially reclassified in Britain from a class B down to a class C drug in early 2004. In January 2009 the UK government reclassified cannabis back to a class B drug.

Brian Paddick

In 2001 Brixton became subject of newspaper headlines due to the implementation of a pilot cannabis

Cannabis

programme, also known as the "softly softly" approach, initiated by Brian Paddick

Brian Paddick

Brian Leonard Paddick is a British politician, and was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral election, 2008, coming third behind Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone...

, then Police Commander for the London Borough of Lambeth

London Borough of Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...

. Police officers were instructed not to arrest or charge people who were found to be in possession of cannabis

Cannabis (drug)

. They were instead to issue on-the-spot warnings and confiscate the drugs. Although Paddick is credited with the idea, the pilot programme was sanctioned by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis

Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service, classing the holder as a chief police officer...

, Sir John Stevens

John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington

John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington KStJ QPM DL FRSA was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northumbria Police before being appointed one of HM Inspectors of Constabulary in September 1996...

. Paddick asserts that he implemented the policy because he wanted his officers to deal with cannabis quickly and informally so that they could concentrate on heroin and crack cocaine

Crack cocaine

offences, and street robbery and burglary, which were affecting the quality of life in Lambeth to a greater extent. The pilot was ended December 2005 and was replaced by a so called "no deal" policy on cannabis in Brixton following complaints about increasing numbers of dealers openly selling the drug.

Paddick was a sergeant on the front line during the 1981 Brixton riot, an experience which shaped his attitudes about confrontational police action and strengthened his belief in community policing. In December 2000 he was appointed Police Commander for the London Borough of Lambeth

London Borough of Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...

where he worked until December 2002, fulfilling his ambition of becoming head of policing in Brixton. Paddick gained much support from the local community for his approach to policing and addressed a rally in his support in March 2002, leading Dominic Casciani from the BBC to comment:

"If someone had said just five years ago that black, white, young and old, straight and gay, liberal and anarchist would all be standing together giving a standing ovation to a police commander in Brixton, people might have said they had smoked one spliff too many."

Gun crime

In June 1998 gun crime in Brixton was reported on widely in connection with the linked murder of Avril Johnson and Michelle Carby, in Brixton and Stratford respectively. Both women were shot in their homes in separate, but connected attacks. Both victims were shot in the head. In 2008 Tony Thompson, a former Time Out news editor, reported that "Gun crime began to escalate following a series of South London gang executions in the late 1990s." Thompson states that "Previous Met operations were seen as putting down the black community. Trident, from the start, was intelligence-led and had strong links with the black community."

In 2001 the Metropolitan Police raised concerns over rapidly increasing gun crime in London. At the time Lambeth had the highest rate of robberies in London. In July 2001 two armed police officers shot dead black 29 year old Derek Bennett in Brixton, Angell Town Estate, after Bennett brandished a gun-shaped cigarette lighter. The verdict of the subsequent inquest ruled that Bennett had been "lawfully killed", the verdict was upheld in a subsequent appeal.

In December 2004 Operation Trident officers and armed officers were assisting Lambeth police in a number of stop and search operations targeting "suspected gunmen or vehicles that have been associated with firearms" and called "Operation Trident Swoop" by the police. The Metropolitan police hoped that "the searches will deter suspects from carrying weapons and prevent shootings taking place, as well as possibly recovering weapons and leading to arrests." Superintendent Jerry Savill, Lambeth Police has responsibility for policing in the Brixton area, stated:

"This operation is aimed very specifically at people we have information to suggest may be involved in gun crime or other offences. We want to send out a very clear message to those who carry guns in Lambeth, don't. It is time to stop the vast majority of people in this borough feeling afraid to be on the street and make it the gunmen who are fearful of their community helping the police to arrest them."

In September 2006 Brixton was the scene of a widely reported shooting, involving two boys being shot in the packed McDonald's on Brixton Road/Acre Lane.

In 2007 firearm offences rose by 4 per cent in London, totalling 3,459 ‘gun-enabled’ crimes, including 30 gun murders of which nine victims were aged 18 or under. A series of gun crimes in the Brixton, Clapham and Streatham, including the Murders of three boys in one week, lead some media commentators to call the area ‘gun capital’.

Mythology

Sir Walter Raleigh

Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....

is said to have had a house in Brixton and been visited there by Queen Elizabeth I, who travelled by barge up the (now underground) River Effra

River Effra

to meet him. However, the name of Raleigh Hall appears to have no direct links to Sir Walter, and the Effra is not known to have been navigable south of Kennington

Kennington

Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....

. Brixton is also mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...

stories A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year...

, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the seventh story of twelve in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes...

(1892) and The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
"The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes....

(1924).

Brixton in song

References to Brixton in song started with the release of "Whoppi King" by Laurel Aitken in 1968 and "Brixton Cat" by Dice the Boss in 1969. This was followed in August 1975 by a song written and sung by Geraint Hughes and Jeff Calvert (who billed themselves as "Typically Tropical"): two white men who told the story of a Brixton bus-driver "going' to Barbados" with Coconut Airways to escape the rain in London.

The 1979 song "The Guns of Brixton

The Guns of Brixton

"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was written and sung by bassist Paul Simonon, who grew up in Brixton, south London...

" by The Clash

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

deals with law enforcement violence in Brixton. Written by Paul Simonon

Paul Simonon

Paul Gustave Simonon is an English musician and artist best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. Recent work includes his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007...

, who grew up in Brixton, it had a reggae influence and showed the reggae roots of both Brixton and Paul Simonon's musical background.

Before a Jam

The Jam

The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...

gig, well-known punk band The Misfits were involved in a fight and thrown into Brixton Prison, which led them to write their song "London Dungeon".
Ian Hunter

Ian Hunter (singer)

Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and...

's 1981 album Short Back 'n' Sides contains a track called "Theatre of the Absurd" which refers to the Brixton law enforcement problem. "Play me some, play me some, play me Brixton power", is the chorus line, and the issue of race is opened with the first lines, "My tea turns seven shades darker as I sit and write these words. And London's gettin' paler, in my Theatre of the Absurd." The production of the record was overseen by Mick Jones

Mick Jones (The Clash)

Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...

of the Clash

The Clash

.

Eddy Grant

Eddy Grant

Edmond Montague "Eddy" Grant is a musician, born in Plaisance, Guyana.- Life and career :When he was still a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, UK, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park...

's 1982 album Killer on the Rampage contains the smash "Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue (song)

"Electric Avenue" is a song by Eddy Grant, from his 1982 album Killer on the Rampage. It was released as a single in 1982, and went on to be very popular, reaching #2 on both United States and United Kingdom singles charts...

", a reference to a shopping street in central Brixton, one of the first in the UK to have electric street lighting installed (when Brixton's character was very different). The song evokes images of poverty, violence and misery while also celebrating the vibe of the area.

The song "Waiting for the Worms

Waiting for the Worms

"Waiting for the Worms" is a song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall. It is preceded by "Run Like Hell" and followed by "Stop".-Overview:...

" from Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

's The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...

has a rally leader speaking into a megaphone to a racist rally mob, which acts as some of the lyrics to separate verses of the song. The very first lyrics heard from the megaphone are, "We have been ordered to convene outside Brixton town hall..." The album was released in 1979, two years before the start of the riots of 1981.

The town featured in the song "Svarta pärlan i London" (The black pearl in London) by Swedish artist Thomas Di Leva

Thomas Di Leva

Thomas di Leva, birth name Sven Thomas Magnusson, is a Swedish singer-songwriter and a New Age-spokesman.-Biography:Sven Thomas Magnusson was born 1963 in Gävle...

.

The song "Reggae Fi Peach," most of the album Dread, Beat and Blood, and many other songs by reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

–dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

poet Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...

are set in Brixton.

The town also featured in the songs "Has It Come To This?" and "Let's Push Things Forward" by UK rapper The Streets

The Streets

The Streets were a British rap/garage project from Birmingham, United Kingdom, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner and has included a myriad of other contributors most notably drummer Johnny Drum Machine, vocalist Kevin Mark Trail and the Italian-American beatmaker Leroy.The...

.

The album "Quixotes of moons fights the Wind-mills of Brixton" by Project 5am

The song "Journey to the Centre of Brixton" by R.O.C.

R.O.C. (band)

R.O.C. are a British electronica group, founded in 1986 by Fred Browning and Patrick Nicholson in London, England. Karen Sheridan joined the band in 1993.-Career:...

The song "Brixton, Bronx ou Baixada" by Brazilian rock-reggae band O Rappa

O Rappa

O Rappa is a Brazilian reggae/rock band from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They combine many styles such as Rock, Reggae, Funk, Hip hop and Samba...

, tells about social differences.

The song "And God Created Brixton" features on the Carter USM

Carter USM

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine is a British indie rock band formed in 1988 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style of power pop, fusing samples, sequenced basses and drum machines with rock 'n' roll guitars and...

album A World Without Dave. It mentions many of the most famous landmarks in the community including The Ritzy cinema and the prison.

Brixton has also been mentioned in the lyrics of songs by many Jamaican Dancehall

Dancehall

Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

artists namely Assassin, Bounty Killer

Bounty Killer

Bounty Killer is a Grammy nominated Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. He is the founder of a dancehall collective known as The Alliance.-Early life and career:...

, Buju Banton

Buju Banton

Buju Banton is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae musician.Banton has recorded pop and dance songs, as well as songs dealing with sociopolitical topics....

, Mavado (singer)

Mavado (singer)

David Constantine Brooks , better known by his stage name Mavado, is a Jamaican musician, actor, DJ and music producer.- Biography :...

, Ninja Man and Vybz Kartel

Vybz Kartel

Adidja Palmer , better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican dancehall artist, songwriter and businessman. He has many nicknames, including Addi Teacher and Gaza Emperor.-Biography:...

.

The song "Sister Rosetta" of Brixton based "acid-house-country-gospel" band Alabama 3

Alabama 3

Alabama 3 are a British band mixing rock, dance, blues, country, and gospel styles, founded in Brixton, London, in 1995. In the United States, they are known as A3, allegedly to avoid any possible legal conflict with the country music band Alabama...

starts with a conversation between "Larry Love" (Rob Spragg) and "The Very Reverend Dr. D. Wayne Love" (Jake Black) and the district's name is included in the first sentence of the song:

"It's a rainy night in Brixton D. Wayne
Why are you taking me downtown?
I brought you down here for a reason, Larry
you've been a faithful little reverend
due in the mountain of dessiminating the dope music to people all over the world
but I haven't been wholly straightforward with you Larry
but tonight, I think you're about to move a stage further in my twelve step plan which you have fought so diligently..."

UK hip hop collective The Illersapiens feature a track entitled "Brixton" on their debut EP, a tribute to the hometown of the group's lead rapper Mr. Man. Similarly, the Pop-Punk group Zebrahead make reference to a Brixton as a song title on their album Phoenix; whether this refers to the English city is debatable.

The Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...

song "Half Caste", which was released in 1975 as the B-side of "Rosalie", refers to Brixton. It has a reggae inspired beat and sound.

The song "Me and Mr Jones" by Amy Winehouse briefly refers to Brixton.
"Rulers one thing, but come Brixton"

In 2009 local beat combo the Dumbartons released modern day anthem, "Brixton (My Home)". Les 'Fruitbat' Carter of Carter USM is a fan and played the song on a local radio show he hosts.

California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

band Rancid

Rancid (band)

Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, both of whom previously played in the ska punk band Operation Ivy, Rancid is credited—along with Green Day and The Offspring—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the...

wrote a song called "Brixton" that appeared on the Rock Stars Kill compilation, and later on B Sides and C Sides
B Sides and C Sides
B Sides and C Sides is a compilation album by the American punk rock band Rancid. It was first released online on December 11, 2007, followed by a standard release on January 15, 2008. It contains a number of B-sides and rare songs as well as compilation or soundtrack appearances plus 3 previously...

.

The song "Summer of '81" by punk band The Violators was about the Brixton riots of 1981.

The electronic band Chase And Status collaborated with Cee-Lo Green on their record Brixton Briefcase, which features on the album No More Idols

No More Idols

No More Idols is the second album by British production duo Chase & Status, released on 28 January 2011. No More Idols marks the first major full-length release by Chase & Status since their debut album More Than Alot three years prior; a period in which the group signed a major management deal...

Brixton in film

Director Richard Parry shot a film here (released in 2001) called South West Nine (SW9), referring to the postcode covering much of central Brixton. Confusingly, this postcode is officially that of Stockwell
Stockwell
Stockwell is a district in inner south west London, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth.It is situated south south-east of Charing Cross. Brixton, Clapham, Vauxhall and Kennington all border Stockwell...

- although the northern part of Brixton falls within the boundary - whereas SW2 (the Brixton Hill sorting office) also covers Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London, England. It lies to the south of Brixton, east of Brixton Hill, north of West Norwood and west of West Dulwich.-History:...

A204 road, Streatham Hill and Brixton Hill
Brixton Hill
Brixton Hill is the name given to a 1 km section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. It slopes downhill towards central London.Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road...

.
"Reg Llama of Brixton" was mentioned in the (farcical) opening credits of the 1975 comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1974 British comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...

.
Brixton was also mentioned in the film V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government,...

as being the location where the first riots against Chancellor Adam Sutler
Adam Sutler
Adam James Susan is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the comic book series V for Vendetta, created by writer Alan Moore and illustrator David Lloyd...

's authoritarian British government broke out, which resulted in Sutler calling out the army to try and stop growing public support for "V".
The film Johnny Was
Johnny Was
Johnny Was is an Irish/British gangster movie directed by Mark Hammond, written by Brendan Foley, and made in 2005 by Ben Katz Productions, Borderline Productions and Nordisk Film...

, with the exception of a number of flashback sequences, is set entirely in Brixton.
Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...

filmed in Brixton on two occasions for his programme Ross Kemp on Gangs.
In the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl
The Prince and the Showgirl
The Prince and the Showgirl is a 1957 American film produced at Pinewood Studios starring Marilyn Monroe and co-starring Laurence Olivier who also served as director and producer.The film was released on 13 June 1957...

, the character played by Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

is from "Brixton Water Lane, Brixton".
In the 1980 film Scum
Scum (film)
Scum is a 1979 British crime drama film directed by Alan Clarke, portraying the brutality of life inside a British borstal. The story was originally made for the BBC's Play for Today strand in 1977, however due to the violence depicted in the film, it was withdrawn from broadcast...

, a prison warder beats up a black inmate and yells at him that he is a "black Brixton slag".
The 1980 film Babylon was set in Brixton.
In the 1980 film The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday
The Long Good Friday is a British gangster film starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. It was completed in 1979 but, because of release delays, it is generally credited as a 1980 film...

the section where Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...

) finds and questions Errol was filmed in Villa Road, off Brixton Road.
Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....

could be seen under the Victor Value supermarket sign in Atlantic Road near the railway station in the film Alfie and a large fight scene was filmed in a soon-to-close pub in Brixton Road.
Brixton used in a Norwegian teenage comedy film "Amors Baller
Amors Baller
Amors Baller is a Norwegian teenage comedy film directed by Kristoffer Metcalfe, starring Kåre Hedebrant and Eira K. Stuedahl. The film was co-written by Metcalfe and producer Frederick Howard. The film premiered in Norway on 25 March 2011.-Plot:...

" directed by Kristoffer Metcalfe, starring Kåre Hedebrant and Eira K. Stuedahl. The film was co-written by Metcalfe and producer Frederick Howard. It is slated for release in March 2011. Brixton City is the football team in the final of the Norway cup
Norway Cup
Norway Cup is an international youth football tournament held annually in Oslo, Norway since 1972.The world's largest arenaNorway Cup has in modern times developed into the world's biggest football tournament with 1400 - 1600 participating teams every year...

against the team "Grimsrud" in which the main characters play.

Locale

Transport

Brixton tube station

Brixton tube station, a station on the London Underground opened on July 23, 1971, is the southern terminus of the Victoria line.It is located in Brixton Road, and is about 100m from Brixton railway station . From the ticket hall, three escalators take passengers to and from the platforms...

, opened in 1971, is the southern terminus of the Victoria line

Victoria Line

The Victoria line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the south to the north-east of London. It is coloured light blue on the Tube map...

of the London Underground

London Underground

The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

. Southeastern

Southeastern (train operating company)

London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...

operate trains through Brixton railway station

Brixton railway station

Brixton Railway Station is a commuter railway station in the centre of Brixton, inSouth London, UK. It is on the Chatham Main Line which runs from London Victoria to Orpington. Trains are operated by Southeastern. The typical service is one train every 15 minutes in both directions.Brixton Railway...

between London Victoria and Orpington

Orpington

Orpington is a suburban town and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley. It forms the southeastern edge of London's urban sprawl and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

.

Brixton sits on several main roads. The A23

A23 road

The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...

London to Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

road runs North-South through the area. There is also the A203

A203 road

The A203 is a primary A road in South London. It runs from Brixton to Vauxhall connecting the A23 and A3 with Vauxhall Bridge, the Albert Embankment as well as the London Inner Ring Road for travel across the River Thames. Between Brixton and Stockwell tube station it is known as Stockwell Road...

which links to Vauxhall Bridge

Vauxhall Bridge

along with the A204 and A2217

A2217 road

The A2217 is an A road in London, England. It connects Clapham Common with Camberwell via Brixton.It is made up of two streets, Acre Lane and Coldharbour Lane.-Acre Lane:...

. Brixton was due to be a major interchange of the South Cross Route

South Cross Route

South Cross Route was the designation for the southern section of Ringway 1, the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network, a complex and comprehensive plan for a network of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London designed to manage and control the flow of traffic...

, part of the London Ringways

London Ringways

The London Ringways were a series of four ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the Greater London Council to alleviate traffic congestion on the city's road system by providing high speed...

plan, which was cancelled in the 1970s.

Brixton is a main meeting point for many London buses

London Buses

London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...

routes: 2

London Buses route 2

London Buses route 2 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:Route 2 was the last West End bus route that was operated by step-entrance buses other than Routemasters...

, 3

London Buses route 3

London Buses route 3 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Abellio London.-History:...

, 35, 37

London Buses route 37

London Buses route 37 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.-History:...

, 45, 59

London Buses route 59

London Buses route 59 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:...

, 109

London Buses route 109

London Buses route 109 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-1950s:...

, 118

London Buses route 118

London Buses route 118 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.-History:...

, 133

London Buses route 133

London Buses route 133 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:...

, 159

London Buses route 159

London Buses route 159 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, United Kingdom. The service is currently contracted to Arriva London.-History:...

, 196

London Buses route 196

London Buses route 196 is a Transport for London-contracted bus route in London, U.K. The service is currently contracted to Go-Ahead London.-Service:...

, 250, 322, 333, 345, 355, 432, 415, P4 and P5. In 2005, the last traditional Routemaster

Routemaster

The AEC Routemaster is a model of double-decker bus that was built by Associated Equipment Company in 1954 and produced until 1968. Primarily front-engined, rear open-platform buses, a small number of variants were produced with doors and/or front entrances...

bus ran through Brixton on Route 159.
The bus garage situated at Streatham

Streatham

, Telford Avenue is known as Brixton Garage to distinguish it from another bus garage that existed in Streatham. The "Brixton Bus Garage" was until 1952 a tram depot.

Transport for London

Transport for London

Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...

proposed building the Cross River Tram

Cross River Tram

Cross River Tram was a Transport for London proposal for a tram system in London, England, UK. It was planned to run on a north-south route from Camden Town in the north, through and , to Peckham and Brixton in the south....

from Camden Town

Camden Town

-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...

to Brixton via central London, but this project was abandoned in 2008 due to lack of funding.

Notable people

Three people who have lived in Brixton have blue plaque

Blue plaque

A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....

s marking their former homes:

Havelock Ellis
Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis, known as Havelock Ellis , was a British physician and psychologist, writer, and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He was co-author of the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in 1897, and also published works on a variety of sexual practices and...

pioneer sexologist lived at Dover Mansions on Canterbury Crescent
CLR James the writer and black political activist lived in Railton Road.
Dan Leno
Dan Leno
Dan Leno , born George Wild Galvin, was an English comedian and actor, famous for appearing in music hall and dozens of comic plays, pantomimes, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies during the Victorian era...

(1860–1904) an English music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

famous for his drag acts (56 Akerman Road).

Other notable people with Brixton connections include:

David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

was born at 40 Stansfield Road, Brixton.
Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...

grew up and lived for many years in Brixton
Former British Prime Minister John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...

spent part of his childhood in a two-room flat off Coldharbour Lane living with his father, former Music Hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

performer Tom Major-Ball
Tom Major-Ball
Tom Major-Ball was a music hall performer and circus artiste. He was the father of Sir John Major, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.-Early life:...

, then moved to a house on Burton Road, having been born in Worcester Park
Worcester Park
Worcester Park is a suburb of London, England covering both the extreme north west of the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London , part of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The area is south west of Charing Cross...

, Sutton
London Borough of Sutton
The London Borough of Sutton is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It is one of the southernmost boroughs of London...

. He started his political career as a Lambeth Councillor while still living in the area.
Max Wall
Max Wall
Max Wall , was an English comedian and actor, whose performing career covered music hall, theatre, films and television.-Early years:...

Comedian and music hall performer was born in Brixton.
Freddie Davies
Freddie Davies
Freddie Davies is a British comedian and actor. He is the grandson of Music Hall comedian Jack Herbert.Freddie Davies was born in Brixton, London. At the start of World War II Davies was evacuated in 1939 to Seend in Wiltshire and subsequently to Torquay in Devon and then to Salford, Manchester...

the comedian and actor was born in Brixton in 1937.
Poly Styrene
Poly Styrene
Poly Styrene was the stage name of Marianne Joan Elliott-Said , a British musician, songwriter and singer, most notably in the pioneering punk rock band X-Ray Spex.-Early life:...

the singer of the band X-Ray Spex
X-Ray Spex
X-Ray Spex were an English punk band from London that formed in 1976.During their first incarnation , X-Ray Spex were “deliberate underachievers” and only managed to release five singles and one album...

, born in Bromley, but grew up in Brixton in 1957.
Danny Williams
Danny Williams (boxer)
Daniel "Danny" Williams is an English professional heavyweight boxer.-Amateur:As an amateur boxing out of the famous Lynn AC boxing gym in SE London, Williams learned his trade quickly, often sparring with the likes of clubmates Henry Akinwande and Derek Angol...

, heavyweight boxer, was born in Brixton
Paul Simonon
Paul Simonon
Paul Gustave Simonon is an English musician and artist best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. Recent work includes his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007...

the bass player for The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

is from Brixton.
Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...

the guitar player for The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

is from Brixton.
Drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

producer Dillinja
Dillinja
Dillinja, is an English drum and bass DJ, record producer and entrepreneur.-History:...

is from Brixton.
Screenwriter, director Daniel Mulloy
Daniel Mulloy
Daniel Mulloy is a British artist and filmmaker. He is winner of The Golden Dragon, BIFA and BAFTA Awards.-Life and career:Born in Brixton , London, Mulloy moved to Carmarthen, Wales, as a teenager...

was born in Brixton.
The band Alabama 3
Alabama 3
Alabama 3 are a British band mixing rock, dance, blues, country, and gospel styles, founded in Brixton, London, in 1995. In the United States, they are known as A3, allegedly to avoid any possible legal conflict with the country music band Alabama...

were formed in Brixton.
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...

is a long time Brixton resident
House music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

duo Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx are a British electronic dance music duo from London, England consisting of Felix Buxton born 1971 and Simon Ratcliffe born 1 December 1969. They first rose to popularity in the late 1990s...

formed in Brixton.
EBK
EBK
EBK may refer to* DJ EBK, a drum and bass producer and DJ from London, United Kingdom.* Ertebølle culture, a South Scandinavian hunter-gatherer and fisher culture* Einstein-Brillouin-Keller method, a calculation method from quantum mechanics....

long term resident of Brixton
Fruitbat of power-pop punk band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine is a life-long Brixton resident.
Joe Cornish
Joe Cornish (comedian)
Joseph Murray "Joe" Cornish is an English comedian, television and radio presenter, director, writer and actor, who along with his long-time comedy partner, Adam Buxton, form the comedy duo Adam and Joe....

, presenter of the BBC production Adam and Joe in the 1990s, and current comedy radio presenter on BBC6 Music with Adam Buxton.
Dow Jones journalist Tommy Stubbington.
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....

, wife of Ozzy Osbourne, was born in Brixton.
Mike Skinner of the band "The Streets
The Streets
The Streets were a British rap/garage project from Birmingham, United Kingdom, led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner and has included a myriad of other contributors most notably drummer Johnny Drum Machine, vocalist Kevin Mark Trail and the Italian-American beatmaker Leroy.The...

" moved to Brixton c.2000 to pursue his recording career. Some of his songs deal with living in Brixton.
Skin, singer of the band Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...

, grew up in Brixton.
Stereo MC's, acid jazz/club dance group, was formed and is still based in Brixton.
Cult novelist Martin Millar lived here, and most of his novels are set in and around Brixton.
Environmentalist James Lovelock
James Lovelock
James Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS is an independent scientist, environmentalist and futurologist who lives in Devon, England. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the biosphere is a self-regulating entity with the capacity to keep our planet healthy by controlling...

, famous for proposing the Gaia hypothesis
Gaia hypothesis
The Gaia hypothesis, also known as Gaia theory or Gaia principle, proposes that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet.The scientific investigation of the...

, was born and spent his childhood in Brixton.
Frank Reginald Carey
Frank Reginald Carey
Group Captain Frank Reginald "Chota" Carey CBE, DFC & Two Bars, AFC, DFM was an English World War II fighter ace with 25 victories, three shared destroyed, four unconfirmed destroyed, four probables and eight damaged...

, Second World War fighter ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

was born in Brixton.
Jo Self
Jo Self
Jo Self née Lee is an English contemporary artist, poet who specialises in often monumental oil paintings of flowers. In 2001-3 she painted in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where she was artist-in-residence in the Marianne North studio.-Background:Self was born and grew up on a Hertfordshire...

, Artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

long term resident of Brixton.
Iwan Thomas
Iwan Thomas
Iwan Gwyn Thomas MBE is a sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 m, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is the current UK record holder at 400 m with a time of 44.36 seconds and is a former European and Commonwealth games champion...

, Olympic Athlete.
Nyron Nosworthy
Nyron Nosworthy
Nyron Paul Henry Nosworthy is an English football player who plays for Watford as a defender.-Gillingham:Born in Brixton, South London, Nosworthy - known since childhood by the nicknames "the clown","Ny" or "Nuggy" – began his career as a trainee at Gillingham. Where he became famed for running to...

, professional footballer.
Shivani Kapoor
Shivani Kapoor
Shivani Kapoor in London, England is a British model.Shivani Kapoor attended school in Sydenham, South London, until the age of 14, when she moved to India to pursue a career in modelling. While at school, she trained as a classical singer. Her secret passion: "To sing. I have trained for four...

, Indian model.
Hijack
Hijack (band)
Hijack were a hip hop group from Brixton in London, featuring Kamanchi Sly, DJ Supreme, DJ Undercover, Ulysses, Agent Fritz and Agent Clueso. Their first single, "Style Wars" caught the attention of the British hip hop community...

, a hip hop group.
In the musical comedy 'Leave it to Jeeves', PG Wodehouse revealed that his iconic manservant Jeeves
Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...

grew up in Brixton.
Several members of the So Solid Crew
So Solid Crew
So Solid Crew is an electronic and urban musical collective from South London, England, whose hits include "Oh No " and "21 Seconds", the latter reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 2001. Another hit, "They Don't Know", reached number three in November 2001 and "Haters" got to...

.
Luol Deng
Luol Deng
Luol Deng is a South Sudanese-British professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls and the Great Britain national basketball team. He plays the small forward position.-Early life:...

player for the American basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

team Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

lived in Brixton.
Alex Wheatle
Alex Wheatle
Alex Alphonso Wheatle MBE is an award winning black British novelist of Jamaican heritage, sentenced to a term of imprisonment after the Brixton riots....

, novelist.
Lisa Maffia
Lisa Maffia
Lisa Finch Maffia is a platinum selling English singer-songwriter, musician, fashion designer, model and presenter, who originally came to the public's attention as the main female member of So Solid Crew...

, singer and TV personality, was brought up in Brixton.
Bunmi Mojekwu
Bunmi Mojekwu
Oluwabunmi Ruth Mojekwu is a British actress of Nigerian descent. She is best known for playing Mercy Olubunmi in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...

, actress.
La Roux
La Roux
La Roux are an English electropop duo made up of singer, keyboardist, co-writer and co-producer Eleanor Kate Jackson, and co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their relationship as "very much a half and half sharing situation... not like a singer producer outfit", but also...

(Elly Jackson), musician, was born and raised in Brixton.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.