SO URBAN, SO CHIC, SO CLAPHAM DARLING...
• Jayne Sharratt lives in Clapham now and has great expectations

---

Clapham is full of beautiful young people on their way out to beautiful bars, down streets full of occasionally beautiful cars. The oyster coloured TVR took my breath away, the vintage MG, I could see myself in that, and the Racing Green Lotus at the end of our road? Hell yeah, even if its owner does keep me awake all night.

Mainly it is an MX5 kind of neighbourhood. We even have a whole MX5 street, where a dozen of the cute Japanese convertibles sit nose to nose. I suspect this reflects the population - we live in Clapham, SW4, because we aspire to be West End boys and girls. Really, one day, when we're older, we want to live in Notting Hill or Chelsea, and walking down the Kings Road, SW3, we feel we can almost touch our goal.

I sometimes wonder where their owners actually drive these cars. On warm summer evenings the convertibles do venture out to cruise the high str üeet, but where else they go is a mystery. Not to work, it seems certain, as every morning the trains which have already passed through Clapham South and the Common by the time they reach me at Clapham North, are packed full of commuters. I have been known to wait eight trains before finally sliding myself into some humid, cramped space, ducking to accommodate the sliding doors and various besuited limbs.

Cars are just street decoration, adorning curving streets of Victorian terraces. It is the Northern line which forms the main artery. The Tube takes bankers to the city, and weekend trippers to the Eurostar at Waterloo, or to the equally foreign North, via Kings Cross and Euston. A night out in the West End will begin at the tube, as will any day at work. Waterloo is 4 stops away, Leicester Square 7. My own place of work is a mere 2 stops away, allowing me to leave my front door approximately fifteen mi tnutes before I arrive. Early morning news reports that the section of the tube between Clapham North and Stockwell is the most over-stretched capacity-wise are verified by experience, but leave us undaunted. The Tube is part of the art of London living, and in Clapham North we have a textbook example.

Above ground, the high street runs from the tube at the Northside, under the railway bridge by Clapham High Street Rail and up to the expanse of the Common, lined by mansions. If our aspirations can be reflected in our cars, the shops should reflect who we really are. Takeaway fast food from the usual cuisine contenders is one part of this - Pizza Perfect, Burger King, KFC and McDonalds jostle with Chinese, Thai, Indian, Spanish, Mexican, Indian, French, Italian and Portuguese restaurants. Aside from places to eat, the main feature of the High Street is bars. Not Pubs, you understand, those are for the quieter side streets. Bars. Places with late licences, and thought-out interiors. Places to spend money and be seen and try and pretend that you're terribly Urban and Cool. They seem friendly enough, in a 'Friends' lots-of-sofas-and-candles sort of way, places to collapse into and forget the week, but aren't they just trying a little too hard?
After listing the bars and restaurants on the high street, there is little else left. There is one book shop, and no clothes shops (we go to town for those). Two florists, one pleasingly vast Sainsburys with the largest ready to eat section known to the UK, and 3 dry cleaners. There is also the leisure centre for Pilates classes and Aerobics, and the gorgeous little Clapham Pict ure House, with its interval Bar.

We're urban, we're young , and we're muddling through, paying for a Vodka spritzer before we pay rent. What I find so cheering about Clapham is the way it is so very adapted to my stage in life. For all its aspiration, it is relaxed and friendly. On the High Street we can go people spotting, men spotting, searching for talent. I'm sorry to return to the shallow pursuit of beauty, but in Clapham, for all that its name does not fill one with Great Expectations, my hopes are being raised
Clapham is full of beautiful young people on their way out to beautiful bars, down streets full of occasionally beautiful cars. The oyster coloured TVR took my breath away, the vintage MG, I could see myself in that, and the Racing Green Lotus .

© JAYNE SHARRAT 2001

WHERE TO EAT IN CLAPHAM
Abbeville Restaurant & Bar 67 Abbeville Road London SW4 9JW Tel: 020 8675 2201
Aux Trois Soleils 127 Clapham High Street London SW4 7SS Tel: 020 7498 3777
Cafe Rouge 40 Abbeville Road London SW4 9NG Tel: 020 8673 3399
Cafe Wanda 153 Clapham High Street London SW4 7SS Tel: 020 7738 8760
Clapham Tandoori 10 Clapham Common South Side London SW4 7AA Tel: 020 7622 0926
Ho Ho Chinese Restaurant 70 Clapham High Street London SW4 7UL Tel: 020 7622 3952
Kong Lam 57 Abbeville Road London SW4 9JW Tel: 020 8673 2791
La Rueda 68 Clapham High Street London SW4 7UL Tel: 020 7627 2173
Le Chat Noir 169 Clapham High Street London SW4 7SS Tel: 020 7622 8169
Moxon's Restaurant 14 Clapham Park Road London SW4 7BB Tel: 020 7627 2468
Newtons 35 Abbeville Road London SW4 9LA Tel: 020 8673 0977
Pizza Express 43 Abbeville Road Clapham London SW4 9JX Tel: 020 8673 8878
Pizza Hut (UK) Ltd 75 Abbeville Road Clapham London SW4 9JN Tel: 020 8675 8640
Pizzeria Restaurant San Marco 126 Clapham High Street London SW4 7UH Tel: 020 7622 0452 Sappho Meze Bar 9 Clapham High Street London SW4 7TS Tel: 020 7498 9009
Sash Oriental Bar Brasserie 32 Abbeville Road Clapham London SW4 9NG Tel: 020 8673 9300 Tootsies 36 Abbeville Road London SW4 9NG Tel: 020 8772 6646
Verso 84 84 Clapham Park Road London SW4 7BX Tel: 020 7720 1515

THE PRICE OF URBAN CHIC
Price Guide
To buy a studio flat £392,488
1 bed flat £186,753
2 bed flat£314,291
2 bed house £305,979
3 bed flat £537,209
3 bed house £367,101
4 bed house £462,386

To rent a studio flat £753 pcm
1 bed flat £1002 pcm
2 bed flat £1484 pcm
2 bed house £1484 pcm
3 bed flat £1659 pcm
3 bed house £2372 pcm
4 bed house £2862 pcm
Based on average advertised prices over 3 months

< Back to Index
< About the Author
< Reply to this Article