On Aug 2, 3:55*pm, MIG wrote:

On 1 Aug, 17:03, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:00:07 +0100, Franklin
wrote:

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic stadium. *I'm
considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for the Wimbledon area.. *

Approximately how far is it and how much time should I allow for the
journey?

Depends on time of day, day of the week and the way you make the
journey.

There are loads of options for routes - assuming Stratford to Wimbledon..

[various options snipped]

You haven't mentioned taking Thameslink to St Pancreas and the
"Javelin" ... (assuming it's during the Olympics).

The OP's rather vague "in a year or two" comment suggests this isn't a
journey that'll happen during the Games, but it's hard to know for
sure without any more info!

On Aug 2, 3:39*pm, Basil Jet wrote:

On 2010\08\01 16:00, Franklin wrote:

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic stadium. *I'm
considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for the Wimbledon area.

Approximately how far is it and how much time should I allow for the
journey?

It's [two] years away, dude, they might have invented teleport by then.

The 100 metres might need a rethink then...

Mizter T wrote:


On Aug 1, 9:19*pm, "Richard J." wrote:

Franklin wrote on
01 August 2010 16:00:07 ...

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic stadium.
*I
'm
considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for the Wimbledon
area.

Approximately how far is it and how much time should I allow for
the journey?

What do you mean by "the civic hall for the Wimbledon area"?
*Wimbledon is in the London Borough of Merton, whose main
headquarters is at the Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, SM4 5DX,
near Morden Underground station (Northern Line) and about 2 miles
from Wimbledon.

Thanks Richard - exactly the point I was going to make!


Until 1965, Wimbledon was a borough with a town hall (built 1931) at
the corner of Queens Road and Wimbledon Bridge, near Wimbledon
station. *It is no longer a council building; Google Street View
shows a Tesco Metro supermarket in the building.

The former Wimbledon Town Hall building is now part of the "Centre
Court" shopping centre, which has a Tesco Metro on the ground floor.
So, "Wimbledon Town Hall" doesn't really exist any more - at least,
it's not somewhere someone would going in connection with any civil
(i.e. council) activities, such as a meeting.

Until the construction of the shopping centre, it was indeed used as
the Town Hall for the London Borough of Merton, but the council's HQ
moved to Mitcham circa 1990 to make way for the new development in
Wimbledon.

There also used to be a Civic Hall in Wimbledon which was I think
behind the Town Hall building, but this got demolished as part of the
new development - promises were apparently made by the (then
Conservative) council that a new facility would be constructed in
Wimbledon, but that never happened - since then I understand there
have been various campaigns to get some sort of new local hall space
in Wimbledon, for example this page on the Wimbledon Choral Society's
website documents the push for a Wimbledon Arts Cent
http://www.wimbledon-choral.org.uk/library/lib-hall-campaign.html

Proponents of a "Big Society" might do well to bear in mind the need
for civic spaces in which societies, and indeed society, can
flourish. (I expect that if the OP is still reading this they're
wondering what I'm on about!)

I am thinking of visiting the town hall for Wimbledon to rummage
through public files in order to find an old friend. I've lost touch
with him but I figure there is some info in the local government
offices: perhaps a building permit in his name, perhaps a statement he
made at a public meeting, perhaps feedback he gave on local development
plans.

Here you can't search local records electronically. You have to visit
in person. Is Wimbledon/Merton the same?

Mizter T wrote:


On Aug 1, 5:03*pm, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:00:07 +0100, Franklin
wrote:

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic stadium.
*I'm considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for the
Wimbledon area.

Approximately how far is it and how much time should I allow for
the journey?

Depends on time of day, day of the week and the way you make the
journey.

There are loads of options for routes - assuming Stratford to
Wimbledon.

Central Line to Mile End - District Line Mile End to Wimbledon.
There is cross platform interchange at Mile End so very simple and
quick to make the change.

Jubilee Line to West Ham - District Line West Ham to Wimbledon

Jubilee Line to Waterloo - South West Trains (from the main line
station) to Wimbledon

Jubilee Line to Westminster - District Line to Wimbledon

The interchange routes for the above three options are a bit longer
and more convoluted but are well signed.

Tube services are typically very frequent but slower.
The SWT service from Waterloo to Wimbledon is a tad less frequent
than the tube but is quick - especially if you get a semi-fast
train. [snip]

My reflex suggestion would be the Jubilee line from Stratford to
Waterloo, then South West Trains from Waterloo to Wimbledon option
(as Paul detailed above).

This route is dependent on the Jubilee line being in operation (it's
often closed at least in part during the weekends for upgrade works -
though those should be finished by this time next year - n.b. I said
'should'!). That said, each possible route is subject to the same
qualifier - there may be engineering works that could affect any of
the relevant lines.

The OP should note that "South West Trains" (SWT) is one of the
companies that provide mainline (suburban) passenger train services
in (and beyond) London - it's not part of the London Underground
network and hence it doesn't appear on the Tube maps. It does however
appear on the more comprehensive London Connections map he
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/maps/
London_Connections.pdf

Stratford is in the north east part of the map, square R3, and
Wimbledon is in the south west, square N5.

Don't be put off using the SWT service from Waterloo, provision of
information at stations is generally very good these days. Tickets
wise, you can use either a Travelcard (valid for zones 1-3) or an
Oyster card (a pay-as-you-go smartcard) on both the Underground and
on suburban rail services within London (note that a *Day* Travelcard
is not available for just zones 1-3, you'd need to buy the zones 1-4
variant) - these tickets can also be used on buses in London.

P.S. Engineering works info for the Underground is available here
(click on "This weekend" or "This date" to select a date up to a
month in the future):
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravel...e/default.html

Thanks to everyone for their information.

That's a complicated system for traveling around. I was kind of hoping
I could drive over from the stadium to Wimbledon but it's going to need
more planning. Glad I found out now.

On Aug 2, 12:27*pm, Mizter T wrote:

On Aug 1, 9:19*pm, "Richard J." wrote:

Franklin wrote on
01 August 2010 16:00:07 ...

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic stadium. *I'm
considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for the Wimbledon area.

Approximately how far is it and how much time should I allow for the
journey?

What do you mean by "the civic hall for the Wimbledon area"? *Wimbledon
is in the London Borough of Merton, whose main headquarters is at the
Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, SM4 5DX, near Morden Underground
station (Northern Line) and about 2 miles from Wimbledon.

Thanks Richard - exactly the point I was going to make!

Until 1965, Wimbledon was a borough with a town hall (built 1931) at the
corner of Queens Road and Wimbledon Bridge, near Wimbledon station. *It
is no longer a council building; Google Street View shows a Tesco Metro
supermarket in the building.

The former Wimbledon Town Hall building is now part of the "Centre
Court" shopping centre, which has a Tesco Metro on the ground floor.
So, "Wimbledon Town Hall" doesn't really exist any more - at least,
it's not somewhere someone would going in connection with any civil
(i.e. council) activities, such as a meeting.

Until the construction of the shopping centre, it was indeed used as
the Town Hall for the London Borough of Merton, but the council's HQ
moved to Mitcham circa 1990 to make way for the new development in
Wimbledon.

***Correction***

Silly mistake above - I meant the council's HQ moved to Morden, not
Mitcham.

On Aug 4, 11:39*pm, Franklin
wrote:

Mizter T wrote:

On Aug 1, 9:19*pm, "Richard J." wrote:

Franklin wrote on
01 August 2010 16:00:07 ...

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic stadium.
I'm considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for the Wimbledon
area.

Approximately how far is it and how much time should I allow for
the journey?

What do you mean by "the civic hall for the Wimbledon area"?
Wimbledon is in the London Borough of Merton, whose main
headquarters is at the Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, SM4 5DX,
near Morden Underground station (Northern Line) and about 2 miles
from Wimbledon.

Thanks Richard - exactly the point I was going to make!

Until 1965, Wimbledon was a borough with a town hall (built 1931) at
the corner of Queens Road and Wimbledon Bridge, near Wimbledon
station. *It is no longer a council building; Google Street View
shows a Tesco Metro supermarket in the building.

The former Wimbledon Town Hall building is now part of the "Centre
Court" shopping centre, which has a Tesco Metro on the ground floor.
So, "Wimbledon Town Hall" doesn't really exist any more - at least,
it's not somewhere someone would going in connection with any civil
(i.e. council) activities, such as a meeting.

Until the construction of the shopping centre, it was indeed used as
the Town Hall for the London Borough of Merton, but the council's HQ
moved to Mitcham circa 1990 to make way for the new development in
Wimbledon.

Correction re the above paragraph - I meant to saythe council's HQ
moved to *Morden*, not Mitcham.


There also used to be a Civic Hall in Wimbledon which was I think
behind the Town Hall building, but this got demolished as part of the
new development - promises were apparently made by the (then
Conservative) council that a new facility would be constructed in
Wimbledon, but that never happened - since then I understand there
have been various campaigns to get some sort of new local hall space
in Wimbledon, for example this page on the Wimbledon Choral Society's
website documents the push for a Wimbledon Arts Cent
http://www.wimbledon-choral.org.uk/library/lib-hall-campaign.html

Proponents of a "Big Society" might do well to bear in mind the need
for civic spaces in which societies, and indeed society, can
flourish. (I expect that if the OP is still reading this they're
wondering what I'm on about!)

I am thinking of visiting the town hall for Wimbledon to rummage
through public files in order to find an old friend. *I've lost touch
with him but I figure there is some info in the local government
offices: *perhaps a building permit in his name, perhaps a statement he
made at a public meeting, perhaps feedback he gave on local development
plans.

Here you can't search local records electronically. *You have to visit
in person. *Is Wimbledon/Merton the same?

The 'town hall' for Wimbledon is the London Borough of Merton's civic
centre, which nowadays is located in Morden (a rather down at heel
part of London) - the London Borough of Merton (aka Merton Council)
covers Wimbledon and some other areas in south-west London. It's
perhaps worth noting that there are actually 32 different London
Boroughs within Greater London - the present arrangements have existed
since 1965, beforehand things were different, there were smaller
municipal boroughs, and indeed Greater London did not exist as an
administrative area either.

Merton's website is he
http://www.merton.gov.uk/

Before you plan to head off there I'd absolutely advise you to do some
more research about what kinds of records you might like to look for,
where they might be, and how you might access them - things are
different here to over the pond, and if you were to just turn up at
the town hall or civic centre with a vague-ish idea about rummaging
through their records I suspect you could well be rather disappointed.
You might do well to pursue a number of other strategies too in
looking for your friend, which could perhaps reap dividends more
readily - all depends on the particular circumstances of course.
Genealogists sometimes have a bit of a sideline in such work too I
think.

Hi Franklin,

I live in the shadow of the Civic Centre near Morden. You can PM me
and I will see what I can find if that helps. I have used the
references at the Civic Centre extensively so know my way around what
is available or know someone else who might.

OC

In message , Franklin
writes

I was kind of hoping I could drive over from the stadium to Wimbledon
but it's going to need more planning.

There is no provision for private car parking at the Olympic stadium -
all visitors are expected to walk, cycle or use public transport.

--
Paul Terry

Franklin wrote on 04 August
2010 23:39:42 ...
Mizter T wrote:


On Aug 1, 9:19 pm, "Richard wrote:

g wrote on
01 August 2010 16:00:07 ...

In a year or two I expect to be visiting the main Olympic stadium.
I'm considering a side trip to visit the civic hall for the Wimbledon
area.
[snip]

I am thinking of visiting the town hall for Wimbledon to rummage
through public files in order to find an old friend. I've lost touch
with him but I figure there is some info in the local government
offices: perhaps a building permit in his name, perhaps a statement he
made at a public meeting, perhaps feedback he gave on local development
plans.

Here you can't search local records electronically. You have to visit
in person. Is Wimbledon/Merton the same?

It is certainly worth an online search. Things like planning
applications, minutes of council meetings are online. For the stuff
that isn't online, I don't think there is likely to be any practical way
of searching for his name in Merton's records. The London Borough of
Merton has a population of about 200,000.

You would do better, I think, to take out a subscription to www.192.com
and search there for his name, which would cover electoral registers
(though only if he agreed to his name's inclusion in the online
register), phone directories, and various other records.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

I think that the old Wimbledon Town Hall was the Merton Council main offices
for a couple of decades after 1965.

It is now the frontage to the Centre Court shopping centre, accessible
directly from the railway station, opened some around 1988-90.

The new council offices in Morden used to be a supermarket (various names
ending as a Safeway) with an office block (Crown House) above it until at
least 1980. Can't remember when that all changed and the Safeway moved into
new premises built on the old Co-op department store, (which was what I can
only describe as the most sparsely occupied store this side of the Urals).