Clapham Junction station first opened its doors to rail passengers in March 1863. To celebrate this milestone birthday, a celebration photography project was recently launched in the Brighton Yard entrance to the Junction.

This project has been coordinated and sponsored by the Clapham Junction Town Centre Partnership & Wandsworth Council, in conjunction with South West Trains and long established Battersea Estate Agent Bullman Booth.


The organising team behind the CJ150 project hosted a birthday event in the new Brighton Yard entrance, with help from a group of real life Victorian characters. Local Councillors, local MP Jane Ellison and colleagues from South West Trains attended for a slice of birthday cake and along with members of the public and passers by, were gifted a specially produced a limited edition, souvenir travel card holder. Victorian newspaper boys distributed reprinted copies of The Times from 1863, which had been edited to include new editorial stories.

Cllr James Cousins said: “... from the new Brighton Yard entrance, to the start of Overground services and the possibility of Crossrail 2. Each helps Clapham Junction continue to play its important role in the lives of local people and driving the local economy.”.

Jake Kelly, Customer Service Director for the South West Trains – Network Rail Alliance, said: “It's not easy to last 150 years; Clapham Junction has had to constantly reinvent itself to meet the needs of modern passengers. In recent years, we have focused on key improvements to make the station accessible to all, and have opened a new entrance to ease the flow of passengers and make it easier for passengers to move around the station.”.

Leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia said: “As the railway network has grown over the last 150 years Clapham Junction has benefitted from more and more connections, with new routes fanning out across London and the south of England. At Wandsworth Council we believe the station has even greater potential and we are working with the rail authorities to see that it’s achieved.”.

Celebration Photo Project: "Our Future Our Past"
Just as the Victorian and the modern coexist side by side in our city, a special photography project has been launched which will see Victorian characters inserted into photos from the present day. Members of the public are invited to submit photos of their favourite places and spaces in and around the station, so artists can populate the image with people from the past. The organisers will release photos via an online gallery throughout the project, which will culminate in an exhibition of the images in Battersea this summer.

To submit a photograph for this photo project, email your image to: photo@stjohnshill.co.uk before the closing date: 1st May 2013. Photos taken in the morning light without use of flash will work best for this project and will most likely be included in the final exhibition. Please email the highest resolution version possible; smart phone photos will be accepted.


Left: An image of the old entrance to Clapham Junction station, with modern characters inserted into the photograph (this is the reverse of what the photo project and exhibition will create).

March 12, 2013