Memories

Tributes have been paid to an “outstanding” headteacher who became the first Muslim to run a UK school.

The book Kelmscott Chaucer was the culmination of the life’s work of designer, poet and Arts & Crafts originator William Morris who lived in the now iconic Red House in Bexleyheath. 125 years after the
publication of that seminal work, Alexandra Warren tells his story

A cancer survivor will take two giant leaps of faith when he does a charity skydive and bungee jump. Dafydd Jones, 28, from Gipsy Hill, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October, 2009.

Monday was the 40th anniversary of the first London marathon – one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Here TOBY PORTER traces its history.

Former Charlton Athletic and England footballer Derek Ufton has died at the age of 92. The doubly talented sportsman – he also scored 3,915 runs and claimed 313 scalps as wicketkeeper for Kent over three decades – was a one-club man in both careers.

A fun-loving band of ukulele players have bounced back from a technological setback in time for their neighbourhood festival.

Marc Bolan, legendary singer of the 1970s rock band T. Rex, is to get a Blue Plaque in Summerstown. The Blue Plaque will be commemorating his time spent in the area as he began the career which would see him become one of Britain’s biggest pop stars.

The middle-aged Mrs Eva Wilkinson lived at 51 Cliveden Road, Wimbledon, with her son Reginald. From an early age, Reginald had been a very difficult boy.

On the front of an unassuming townhouse in The Chase, Clapham is a Blue Plaque bearing the name Natsume Soseki, who lived there between 1901 and 1903. The Japanese writer, beloved in his own country for his poetry and novels, spent two influential but unhappy years there, alienated from English society as a virtual recluse. Alexandra Warren tells his story.

A trophy-winning fisherman and postman whose positive demeanor were known to residents of countless South London streets for 43 years has died aged 69.

“There was a dearth of open space in North Kensington. It was appalling,” recalled photographer Adam Ritchie who worked with residents to campaign for facilities when a motorway was built in the middle of the area. “It was a mind boggling situation.”