I often think about how names come about…. even our names, so if you ever hear me stretching out a name a bit too much, that’s probably what I am doing!
Earlsfield, where did the name come from? The field of the Earl… No I am just messing, it’s actually a little less historic but still interesting. Now before you start reading anymore, I am just going to clarify that I am no historian but I just thought a summary of the earl-story would be good, even if it’s just for me.
So apparently Earlsfield received it’s name based on a sales agreement with the Davis Family. How so? They sold the site to London and Southern Western railway in 1884 for the building out of the railway station and one of the conditions of sale was that the station be named after their residence “Earlsfield” and that’s how Earlsfield station got it’s name and from that the area….. Well helloooooo there Earlsfield!
I found these pictures online and then went out this morning (looking a bit sketchy I would imagine) trying to find the locations of these photos- here’s my portrait of Earlsfield Then and Now…
First stop Swaby Road… A few families packing their car boots, setting off for the bank holiday weekend… and me standing in the middle of the road taking pictures of…. A road!
I walked down Swaby Road and made my way over to Earlsfield Road….
And then up to the high street to capture Earlsfield station and Garratt Lane. (it’s not exactly the most fascinating of pictures to take, so I felt a lot like those tourists that take photos of absolutely everything – “Oh my god this is the spoon I used to stir the sugar into my coffee” #OMG – let me take a photo!
Last but not least, I made my way home past the Leather Bottle and managed to get a couple of pictures to resemble the historic photos! The location of the Leather Bottle was once before known as the “old Garratt Lane village”, the heart of the town and in some ways you can say that it still is with its #bestbeergardeninlondon status!
So there you have it, all in a little nutshell – “Earlsfield Then and Now…”
……and here’s to enjoying the “Now”
~Earlie-Girl
EarlieGirl 