Number 8 is the property in the middle with the green awning. It’s interesting to note that it is currently a cafe and that it was an eating establishment a hundred years ago too. The cafe took it’s name from the Cable trams that once ran along Brixton Road and was a favourite snack stop for the tramwaymen.
In the photo above taken in 1912 Number 8 can be seen on the far right.
Kelly’s Directories 1881 to 1928 lists number 8 as follows:
Year | Name | Business |
---|---|---|
1881 | Henry Harmott | Mantle Maker |
1886 | Mrs Harmott | Dressmaker |
1888 | Mrs Harmott | Dressmaker |
1889 | Miss Catherine Allen | Servants Registry |
1890 | Miss Catherine Allen | Servants Registry |
1891 | Miss Catherine Allen | Servants Registry |
1892 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1894 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1895 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1896 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1897 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1898 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1903 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1904 | Benjamin Herniman | Dining Rooms |
1909 | Albert Edward Harris | Dining Rooms |
1915 | Frederick P Fothergill | Dining Rooms |
1920 | Gerald Kuyk | Dining Rooms |
1923 | John Hodgson | Dining Rooms |
1926 | Albert Percy Coe | Restaurant |
1928 | Albert Percy Coe | Restaurant |
Classic Cafe’s website wrote the following description of Cable before it was transformed in late 2011 into a faux 30’s/40’s (but still rather lovely) establishment –
“Cable Cafe & Snack Bar [Brixton Road near Prima Road SW9]
‘A classic, traditional Italian-owned cafe in one of South London’s grittier neighbourhoods. Black leatherette settee-style seats, worn Formica-topped tables, Formica wall-panelling. A Formica-topped counter (with pine-effect front) plus traditional glass display cabinet. Wooden slat false-ceiling. An original mosaic-tiled shop front, old Pepsi sign, net curtains and Drury tea sign. The impressive reproduction Victorian wall-mural is a feast for the eyes. Also: colour photos of Italian landscapes, signed photos of Victoria Wood, Warren Mitchell (as Alf Garnett), and one of The Bill detectives!’ (Patrick Turland)”
Read about the current incarnation of Cable Cafe here and make sure you pop along and eat, drink, chat and read the paper where there has been such activity for over a hundred years.
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