Earlsfield

Pencil drawings and watercolour by Stephen Chaplin depicting Earlsfield scenes. Dated 10 and 11 July 1997.

These are three sketches drawn by Stephen Chaplin in the Earlsfield area on Thursday and Friday 10 and 11 July 1997. The most substantial drawing, on the right, includes some watercolour painting and shows the junction of Garratt Lane and Penwith Road SW18, as it was at that time. The view from the eat side of Garratt Lane, looking west down Penwith Road, with a lamppost dividing the picture in the foreground. The large pub at 332 Garratt Lane on the right was then The Sailor Prince (named after Queen Victoria's son, Alfred, who served in the navy). As noted on the back, by 2003 it had changed its name to the Puzzle pub. It 2008, it was refurbished and reopened as the Wandle. The surrounding area is now more developed, with the pub's previously large garden reduced to make way for flats.

The drawing on the right is of Earlsfield Station with tarpaulin covering the disused "Up Fast" platform and its access stairway. The structure had been rendered obsolete following track remodelling in 1936, and the old passageway was ultimately blocked off for safety and to prevent passenger confusion. The tarpaulin served as a temporary weather covering for the decaying, closed-off platform area while Network Rail evaluated long-term options for the space. The station was later extensively redeveloped in 2012.

The drawing in the centre shows the back of the head of a passenger of a 270 bus from Earlsfield to Tooting. The artist's ticket is attached to the drawing and confirms that he travelled on the 270 and not the 267 as referred to in his notes (which does not run in that part of London).