Tooting Newsie Weekly Newsletter
A Spring festival, the closure of a much-loved Tooting store, new openings, lots of news, and much more in Tooting!
Totterdown Street Market Spring Festival bursts into life this Sunday 27th April in Tooting, 10am-5pm!
Totterdown Street Market celebrates Spring, with a free festival promising a vibrant mix of live music, delicious street food, arts & crafts, and an Easter Egg hunt for kids of all ages. With free entry, it's a fantastic community celebration to welcome the season!
Event Highlights include:
🌟Punch & Judy Shows at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm
🥚Big Easter Egg Hunt, 10:30am-12:30pm
🖌️ Face Painting, Giant Games, and Craft Tables
📸 Easter Photo Booth for Spring snaps
🌞 Alfresco seating and an unbeatable street vibe
🎸 Live music
🎟️ Raffle Draw at 4pm with exciting prizes!
For more info, and to book your free slot for Punch & Judy, visit: https://t.ly/81ELe
The Spring Festival takes place on Totterdown Street (outside the entrance to Tooting Market) and is supported by Wandsworth Council and Somnium London. Follow @totterdownstreetmarket (Instagram) for more info and updates!
MAY QUIZ for Ukraine! 🇺🇦 The White Eagle Ukraine Appeal is holding a Quiz Night to raise funds for Ukraine on Thursday 22nd May at the White Eagle Club in Balham!
All proceeds will go towards helping support Ukraine and those affected by the war.
Teams of up to 6 people are welcome to join.
Enjoy a night of competition and stand a chance to win their coveted White Eagle Ukraine Appeal Quiz Winners' trophies, while raising money for Ukraine.
Tickets cost £15 per person and include a buffet. The quiz will start at 7:30pm.
Tickets and more information here.
The White Eagle Club / Klub Orła Białego is located at 211 Balham High Road.
If you're looking to buy or sell a home in Tooting, Balham or Streatham, Tooting resident and independent property advisor Chuk – of Homes with Chuk – is here to help, with a truly bespoke service to help you get the best possible outcome!
Chuk tells us, "I‘ve been an estate agent/property advisor for 17 years, (of which 14 years were with corporate and leading independent estate agents), helping hundreds of people sell and buy their homes across SW London.
"I’m Tooting born and bred (I went to Fircroft Primary when I was a lad)! and like so many long term local residents, I’ve witnessed the changes in the area.
"I love the subtle differences in Tooting – whether it’s Bec, with its proximity to the gorgeous open spaces of Tooting & Wandsworth Commons, or the Broadway, which is becoming increasingly popular (especially with first time buyers) thanks to the appeal of the markets, shops and restaurants… and I can’t forget the ABC roads (by Tooting Thameslink Station), which provide excellent value in terms of price, plus they have a great community vibe. And of course, there’s fabulous Furzedown which is fantastic for families!
"I mostly cover Tooting, Balham and Streatham, and I only ever work with a handful of sellers at any one time, meaning that your home gets the attention and focus it deserves. I’m personally on hand to deliver a quality service from the moment I visit your home to discuss which strategy works best for you, all the way through to completion.
"I'll be there to organise the professional photography and videography, carry out viewings, with communication throughout the process – in fact EVERYTHING required to ensure that the sale of your home is as smooth as possible.
"I love what I do and I'm happy to answer any property-related questions or give advice to the residents of Tooting, so why not drop me a message – I look forward to hearing from you!”
Chuk Agudosi is an independent local property advisor, in partnership with The Agency UK. Email chuk.agudosi@theagencyuk.com for more info, call 020 8092 0200, or pop into Tooting Works at 89 Bickersteth Road and ask for him at reception!
A sad farewell to Morleys Tooting, who closed their doors for the last time on Wednesday in Tooting. The store has been trading at 103-111 Mitcham Road for over 100 years (formerly as Smith Bros).
Farewell Morleys – you're going to be missed!
Morleys Tooting has been bought by developers Criterion Capital, after the premises was put up for sale in October 2024. The developers are preparing a planning application to refurbish the building – more news to come.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting, organised a campaign event with local residents outside Tooting Broadway underground station this week, calling for the station to be made step-free.
Last year, TfL announced they would investigate the feasibility of making the station step-free, and Dr Allin-Khan is urging TfL to move forward with plans to install lifts from street level to the platforms in Tooting Broadway.
More info on her website.
A premises license to host a family-friendly two-day country music festival on Tooting Common this summer has been granted to Enable Leisure and Culture.
Wandsworth Council has approved the event, with capacity for up to 6,000 attendees each day, from 12pm to 10.30pm on a Saturday and 12pm to 10pm on a Sunday (exact dates to be confirmed) during summer 2025, with alcohol sales ending 30 minutes before closing.
You can read the full account of the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee via Wandsworth Council.
Metropolitan Police Officers have made 15 arrests in an operation to disrupt an organised shoplifting gang operating in south-west London (including Tooting).
Eight shops were raided after they were suspected of buying items such as food and alcohol that had been stolen from major retailers and selling them on at lower prices.
After marking 5,000 items with synthetic DNA officers were able to identify and recover around £150,000 worth of stolen goods.
Searches were carried out at shops in:
• Tooting High Street
• London Road, Tooting (x2)
• Balham High Road
• Church Road, Mitcham
• Fernlea Road, Mitcham
• Kingston Road, Wimbledon
• Christchurch Road, Wimbledon
As part of the operation, officers also searched a barber's shop in Tooting High Street and a residential property in Sandy Lane, Cheam.
Further enquiries are taking place and anyone with information about suspected offending is asked to call 101 and speak to the South West Basic Command Unit about Operation Zoridon.
More info via the Met Police.
A new tube map was launched last week that shows where London Underground trains are in real-time, reports Time Out London.
“The animated map uses live TfL data to show the exact model of each train, their exact location and the exact time they’ll get to the station.
“When you open the map you’ll see all the familiar squiggly coloured lines (red for Central, dark blue for Piccadilly, etc) and stations represented by dots. On each line, darker lines representing the trains move from one station to the next in real-time.
“Hover over the moving trains and a little information box pops up telling you the exact model of the train, where it’s going to and from, the percentage of its journey that it’s completed and the exact times (to the second) that it is expected at its next two or three stops.”
The map was created by engineer and writer Ben James using TfL’s open data.
For more info and to view the real time map, visit their website.
🐾 Kitten update! 🐾 RSPCA South London Branch checked in on their trio of kittens – Feline Dion, Freddie Purrcury, and Ziggy Stardust – and they’re doing brilliantly! They’re now 6 weeks old and full of personality.
All three are reserved and will head off to their forever homes once they’re old enough. For now, they’re getting booked in for their first vaccinations and making sure they’re healthy, happy, and thriving.
Looking after and rehoming litters like this takes a lot of time, care, and resources. If you’d like to help support this work, you can donate via the RSPCA's JustGiving page here.
Egg-cellent Easter gifts were handed out to children and elderly patients at St George's hospitals to mark Easter!
They were all given Easter eggs thanks to generous donations to St George's Hospital Charity and Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity.
📷 St George's, Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Group
The Furzedown Project is delighted with their new minibus which was delivered this week – and 96 year-old Lillian was the very first happy passenger!
The Project’s old bus was stolen last September, but thanks to the amazing support of the local community they were able to rent a temporary one to continue helping people with restricted mobility get to activities run by the Projet. They've now purchased this great new bus, with a wheelchair lift.
Volunteer minibus drivers like Pete and Jackie, and escorts like Martin, agree it’s a huge improvement. Hopefully new volunteer drivers and escorts can join them; it’s a worthwhile and enjoyable thing to do for a couple of hours, with flexible days and times – even just being available to call on in an emergency.
The official launch party is on Friday 9 May, 11am-1pm, and the whole community (whose donations have helped make this possible) is invited.
There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and then the minibus will be waved off, replicating The Project's first trip in 1975 to Dulwich Park!
The Furzedown Project at 91-93 Moyser Road, SW16 6SJ, is an activity centre and social hub for people aged 50 and over, who's mission is to increase people's sense of wellbeing and reduce social isolation. More info, including how to volunteer, on their website.
Rice Base has opened in Tooting Market, serving Indian rice bowls, sandwiches, wraps, drinks and more!
Open 10am-9pm Sunday to Monday, 10am-10pm Tuesday to Thursday, and 10am-11.30pm Friday and Saturday for takeaway (delivery to come). Vegetarian and vegan options available, and all food is halal. More info via @ricebase_tootingmarket (Instagram).
Congratulations and good luck to Jamsed, Azad, Jisan, and the team!
COMING SOON TO TOOTING: a new independent, family-run nail spa Hera Nail Spa is to open at 336 Balham High Road, by Tooting Bec tube, in the premises formerly occupied by Printique. The owners tell us they hope to open by the end of May.
More info on their website. We'll keep you posted!
Born in Tooting on 22 April day 100 years ago! George Cole, OBE (22 April 1925 – 5 August 2015) was an English actor best known for playing Arthur Daley in the long-running ITV comedy-drama show Minder, and Flash Harry in the early St Trinian's films, in a career that spanned 75 years, with over 120 acting credits to his name.
Here he is filming Minder in 1981 outside the Fountain Pub on Garratt Lane in Tooting, 5 minutes from where he was born (thanks to @summerstown182 for sharing this on X).
George wrote in his autobiography, "I arrived on 22 April 1925 at a nursing home at 19 Defoe Road in Tooting, a district in south-west London between Wimbledon and Streatham, and was given the names George Edward.
"I lived for the first five years of my life in a flat in Coverton Road in Tooting with my parents, Florence and George Cole, a few streets away from Tooting Broadway. When I was five we moved to a council flat a couple of miles away in Morden and this remained the family home until my mother moved to the Midlands many years later after my father died.
"I don't have many recollections of my early life. I have only two of Tooting. I can remember my father going out on a bicycle one day and getting the wheels stuck in a tramline and falling off. I also remember being put in a pram with a baby girl who had mumps when I was about four years old. I think the idea at the time was to expose children to infectious diseases as soon as possible and get them out of the way (the diseases, not the children). I can't remember whether I actually caught mumps as a result of the experiment. Somehow, I remember there was a pub just round the corner from the place I was born and, strangely, I went in it for the first time nearly 60 years later when we were shooting an episode of Minder there in the 1980s. My first flat was still there as well."
More info via Wikipedia.
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