Southfields Story Snippets

Q:If visitors came from outer space and asked you to give them a guided tour of Southfields, where would you take them? A:The LTA, obviously – partly because I’ve not been there for years and never been to the Museum. Sunny News – because it’s important to get support to keep it open. The competition for tea rooms – mostly

Starbucks, Costa and Cafe Nero. They need to know where to get coffee apart from Daphne & Phyllis’ tea room. The dry cleaner – Dudley on Merton Road – to get their alien suits cleaned. The Earl Spencer and The Gardeners – to have a post flight drink. Sheringdale School – the best place to send their alien kids. The station – since they may want to get our of Southfields. Marks & Spencer’s Food Hall – to get bargains at 7:30pm. St George’s Hospital – because they will need to be put in quarantine. Jane A.

A: I would start at Southfields Station (especially if it was Wimbledon as it is beautifully decorated then) and go to the tennis club and  ….. visiting Wimbledon Park – a lovely family location. Then down ………Road to the church of St Barnabas and then back to Replingham Road, which climbs gently up to a range of shops – although to be fair rather too many estate agents.  The crossroads have some interesting places as well – a silver jubilee ….., probably with ”Mad John” sitting on it and a range of independent shops.  Altogether a friendly and lovely place in London. Mary G.

Q: What does Southfields need that it does not have? A: Southfields needs an escalator going all the way up from the bottom of Wimbledon Park Road to the tube to save tedious walking and aid the mobility of little old ladies. Pierre Gignol

Q:Has anyone famous come from Southfields?
A: Peter Duncan (Blue Peter)
Andy Hamilton (comedy writer)
Inspector Morse (famous detective)
Francois Hollande (President of France) Not sure
Maurice Harmison (inventor of the electric spoon)
Mad Hib (not mad at all actually)
Gentleman Jim (not a gentleman at all)Q:
The proprietor of “Doris’ Bar” (can’t remember her name). Stephen L.

Q: Describe the time you had a perfect cup of tea. A: After a four hour journey with no drink at all (as there were no toilet facilities on the way) I arrived at my destination. The cup of tea I was given was perfect. Hetty M.

Q: Tell us about your favourite pub. A: My favorite pub is, “The Old Fields”. It’s not the ambience of the pub itself that necessarily makes it my favorite but more the history of the place. When I first moved here the site of “The Old Fields” was a garage for car servicing and MOT’s. In the 1990’s the site was sold to a chain of public houses and was called “The Garage Inn”. Sadly, due to basic décor and cheap beer, the clientele that were attracted did not quite fit with the family-based middle-class population. Happily a couple of years ago the pub was sold to a new group who decided to bring the establishment a little more up market. The name was changed to “The Old Fields” to reflect the fact that back in the 1800’s, the land was literally, old fields. Nathan P.