Railton Road


Railton Road runs between Brixton and Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth. The road is designated the B223. At the northern end of Railton Road it becomes Atlantic Road, linking to Brixton Road at a junction where the Brixton tube station is located. At the southern end is Herne Hill railway station.

History

The 1981 Brixton riot, the most serious riot of the 20th century in the United Kingdom, started here. The George public house was burnt down and a number of other buildings were damaged, and the area became known as the "Front Line". The George was replaced with a Caribbean bar called Mingles in 1981, which lasted in one form or another as a late night mostly Caribbean-British attended club/bar until the 2000s. Despite its reputation as run down, violent and racially tense - a 'no-go' area - it was in fact an important hotbed of Afro-Caribbean culture and radical political activity and working-class community. Much of this radical recent past has since been erased in the ongoing process of gentrification that is affecting much of the Brixton area.

Notable people