Battersea
Battersea is a residential district of south London inside the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is 2.9 miles south west of Charing Cross. The district has one of southwest London’s key parks, Battersea Park.
In 2001, Battersea had a populace of 75,651, but by 2011 the number stood at 73,345, noting a slight reduction. There is a large area of public housing estates built in the mid-20th century, practically all situated north of the principal railway lines from Fairfield to Queenstown. There are four significantly substantial estates; Surrey Lane Estate towards the north, Doddington and Rollo Estate, Patmore Estate to the east as well as the Winstanley Estate, which is recognised to be the birthplace of the garage collective So Solid Crew.
There are a number of notable landmarks in Battersea, one of that is the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Before that, the Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs was based in Battersea after moving from Holloway in 1871. Other landmarks consist of the New Covent Garden Market, a major vegetable and fruit wholesale market, and also the now disused Battersea Power Station which was built between 1929 and 1939. There have been a lot of redevelopment projects since the 1980s to convert the station into an entertainment and commercial centre, but to date all attempts have failed.
