Colliers Wood - The Charles Holden

Saturday 15th April 2023

In 1926 the Northern Line, known at the time as the City & South London Railway, was extended seven stations south from Clapham Common. All seven, including Colliers Wood, were designed by Charles Holden.

Frequent readers of this blog, of which my mother recently informed me she is not one (apparently she's only interested in the pictures), will recognise Holden's name from our trip to Sudbury Town as the architect of forty-two tube stations. Following the General Manager of the London Underground's dissatisfaction with the company's own architect, Holden was selected to design all seven stations, his first major project on the network. As a result, Colliers Wood follows the same architectural style as the other stations; platforms lined with green and navy tiles and large entrance halls clad in Portland Stone with coloured glass partially stained by a large Underground roundel. Holden apparently took the inspiration for simplistic design from other works he was undertaking at the time, largely in French cemeteries. Though having now been Colliers Wood Underground Station and googled Oscar Wilde's Tomb (Holden designed the plinth), I can't say I see similarity.

He may have turned down a knighthood (twice) but for a man with his level of influence on London, Holden at least earned a pub named after him. And it is here, opposite one of his first stations staring back at you in burgundy tiles overshadowed by a tower once considered London's Ugliest Building.

As you enter The Charles Holden under a sign containing his photograph and the mission statement of 'In Colliers Wood, Of Colliers Wood, For Colliers Wood', you quickly realise the great man's influence wasn't lost on the interior designer. Alongside an A1 biography of his life, the walls are coated in framed pictures of some of the many tube stations he designed. The large windows which surround the pub's northern and eastern sides give you an excellent view of one in the flesh. Whilst standing at the oak bar you notice emblazoned in a chalkboard in amongst bottles of spirits is the pub's commitment to the community and Holden himself, proudly proclaiming to be sponsors of keeping Colliers Wood happy, signed off with their logo; the Underground's roundel bearing Holden's name.

My eyes quickly turned to the taps. Devon opted for a Guinness. I, a pint of Wimbledon Brewery's SW19 Ale, brewed a few minutes down the road (though ironically not in the direction of Wimbledon), collectively coming to £11.90. Given that, for what felt like the first time in this miserable year, the skies weren't perpetually grey with the imminent threat of either a mass downpour or a wind strong enough to lift you off your feet, we opted to sit in a large beer garden at the back of the pub, an exciting first for this blog!

To reach the beer garden you pass under exposed beams with wine racks hanging from them, a nightmare for any local barophobes, before heading up a small flight of stairs. The glass roofed terrace feels separate from the rest of the pub. The main wall is covered in pictures of international rugby players while a smaller wall off to the right contains maps of some of the world's most glamorous cities: New York, Cape Town, Paris, Tooting, Morden and Colliers Wood.

The beer garden itself is split across two levels with a large area of the lower section partially covered. We opted to sit at the upper level, our view framed by one of electricity pylons dotted across the landscape of this part of South London. Devon, recently retuned from the sweltering tropics of South West Edinburgh, didn't hold back in mentioning her delight at the weather and being able to enjoy a beer garden. It was indeed, until I got cold, wonderful. Though be it inside or out, The Charles Holden is a gem proudly serving its community and honouring one of the great icons of the London Underground.