Pub history
J.J. Moon’s
This pub faces the tube station which opened in 1926 and completed Tooting’s village-to-London-suburb transformation. The 1868 OS map of the area records a ‘National School for Infants’ on the site of this pub. It was later replaced by Tooting Public Baths, opening in 1907 and demolished in 1981. The name J.J. Moon’s was inspired by the Moon Under Water, the ‘ideal pub’ imagined by George Orwell, who described the fictional pub in a 1946 article.
56a High Street, Tooting, London, SW17 0RN
J.J. Moon is a fictional character and simply plays on the George Orwell Moon Under Water theme of some of the company’s earliest pubs.
Photographs and text about Granada Cinema.
The text reads: The luxurious Granada Cinema was built in the 1930s. It is considered by many to be the most spectacular cinema in Britain.
The cinema opened on 7 September 1930 as one of the Granada chain. The normal program consisted of either two feature films, or one with a variety show, until it closed as a cinema on 10 November 1973. The building, designed by Cecil Masey in the Art Deco style, was the first cinema to be given a Grade II listing. It was the interior, however, that was (and still is) spectacular. This was designed by a set designer, making use of ornamental plasterwork by Clark and Fenn. The seating capacity was over 3000, and was often completely sold out. Stars such as Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, The Andrew Sisters and Carmen Miranda, gave concerts here. After closing as a cinema, the building reopened as a bingo hall.
Above right: Inside the Tooting Granada
Above left: The auditorium, 1931
Left: The hall of mirrors in 1965
Right: The stalls and circle, 1930
Photographs and text about Harry Tate.
The text reads: The Music Hall entertainer Harry Tate lived at 72 Longley Road. The site has been replaced by a row of low flats. Harry Tate was born in July 1872. He worked for Henry Tate and Sons the sugar refiners, from whom he took his stage name prior to finding fame in the music halls and on film. He bought the earliest known celebrity personalised number plate – T8.
He died in 1940 from injuries sustained in an air-raid during the Blitz. According to one account, his funeral took place at the cemetery in Blackshaw Road, Tooting, and was attended by over a thousand mourners.
A photograph of the Broadway, Tooting, 1908.
A photograph of the Central Hall Picture House.
A photograph of Tooting High Street, 1906.
