Capsule discovery shines light on Streatham’s past
8:00am Saturday 11th February 2012 in News By Lizzie Dearden
The time capsule
Builders working on the multi-million pound Streatham Hub got an unexpected surprise when they discovered an 86-year-old time capsule buried under the old ice rink last week.
The capsule, from 1926, had lain hidden under the original building's foundation stone in Streatham High Road since the building of the original ‘Streatham Baths’.
Lambeth Council’s Nigel Haselden, who opened the capsule last week with fellow councillor Florence Nosegbe and librarian Fiona Price, said nobody knew the capsule existed.
Coun Haselden said: "It was quite a strange feeling opening it for the first time and touching something that had lain undisturbed for almost a century.
“Reading the newspapers it was interesting to see how much had changed, but also how familiar some of the stories and issues were."
One story in now defunct Streatham Times described the council's shop window dressing competition, which still runs today at Christmas time.
Other stories included a review of Lambeth star Charlie Chaplin's latest film, The Gold Rush, and the conviction of a metal thief from Balham.
Property adverts offered a new semi-detached house in Telford Avenue for a very resonable £995.
Councillor Haselden said he hopes the council can bury a new time capsule at the Streatham Hub, which is due to be completed in 2013.
He added: "It would be fascinating to think of people in another 100 years time following in our footsteps and learning about life in 2012 through artefacts we had buried."
The time capsule is being held in Lambeth Archives as a historical record of Streatham's past.
A manager for Vinci construction, Gavin Taylor, said: "It is common practice to locate the foundation stone on historically important sites such as these, but finding a time capsule was a real added bonus.
“It is always exciting to understand more about the history of the projects that we are working on."
Robert Doyle says...
11:48am Sat 11 Feb 12
That looks suspiciously like the foundation stone of Streatham Baths (latterly Streatham Swimming Pool/Streatham Leisure Centre) a few doors down the road which is also being demolished for the Streatham Hub.