Tooting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tooting is a suburb in the London Borough of Wandsworth in south London. It is 5 miles (8.1 km) south south-west of Charing Cross.
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[edit] History
Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times, and its name means "the dwelling of the sons of Totas". The Romans built Stane Street from London (Londinium) to Chichester (Regnum), which passed through Tooting. Tooting High Street is built on this road. The following timeline sets out some crucial moments in the town's history:
- 666 AD - Tooting and Streatham (then Toting-cum-Stretham) given to the Abbey of Chertsey.
- 900 AD - Suene (Sweyn), believed to be a Viking, given the Land by Edward the Confessor.
- 933 AD - King Athelstan of England gave lands including Totinge (Tooting) to the family of Chertsey Minster.
- 1086 AD - Tooting Bec and Tooting Graveney appear on the Domesday survey as two distinct areas, Upper and Lower Tooting.
- 1703 AD - Citizen Daniel Defoe was a Tooting Presbyterian Minister in hiding.
- 1906 - Tooting Bec Lido opened.
- 1954 - St George's Hospital begins to relocate to Tooting from Hyde Park Corner, taking over the old Grove Fever and Fountain Hospitals.
- 2003 - Redevelopment of St George's Hospital buildings completed.
[edit] Cultural references
The BBC comedy series Citizen Smith was set in Tooting and popularised the cry "Freedom for Tooting!". Star of the series Wolfie Smith (played by Robert Lindsay) was a beret-hatted Communist "leftie" type, founder of fictional revolutionary political organisation, the Tooting Popular Front.
In 2005, a 28-km diameter crater on Mars was named after Tooting [1] [2]. A geologic map of Tooting Crater is under preparation, and will be published by the U.S. Geological Survey in the United States.
British TV police drama 'The Bill' is frequently filmed in and around Tooting.
Scottish singer-songwriter Sandi Thom found fame after she webcast 21 performances from her basement flat in Tooting between February and March 2006. Her track 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)' reached No1 in the UK charts on 2 June 2006.
Tooting Bec appears in the book The Meaning of Liff, defined as the situation in which a driver sounds his or her horn at a car in front, only to discover that the car in front is parked.
In the third series of the popular British comedy sketch show Little Britain It is uncovered that Dudley Punt's new found Thai bride Ting Tong Macadangdang is really from Tooting and not where she originally said she was from, a tiny village called Pong Pong, "Its Tooting, not Pong Pong for Ting Tong".
[edit] Politics
The Member of Parliament for Tooting is Sadiq Khan, first elected at the 2005 General Election to represent the parliamentary constituency of Tooting.
Councillors for Tooting Ward (May 2006) are Susan John-Richards (Conservative), Alex Jacob (Conservative) and Dr Nick Bowes (Labour).
[edit] Open spaces
A large open area, popularly known as Tooting Common lies at the northern end of Tooting. Historically this was two separate open spaces Tooting Graveney Common nearer to Tooting, and Tooting Bec Common towards Streatham. The latter common includes Tooting Bec Lido, which is 90 metres long and 30 metres wide making it undoubtedly the largest freshwater open air pool in the UK, and reputedly the largest freshwater open air pool in Europe.
[edit] Sport
Tooting shares a football club with nearby Mitcham: Tooting & Mitcham United F.C..
Snooker legend Jimmy White comes from Tooting and sometimes plays snooker in the Mayfair snooker hall.
Darren Bent who plays football for Charlton Athletic comes from Tooting.
One of London's few greyhound racing tracks, the Wimbledon Stadium, is found in Tooting.
Michael Melody, the next Steven Gerrard was born there
[edit] Transport
Tooting is positioned on the Northern Line — with stations at the top and the bottom of the hill that slopes down the High Street, Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway.
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] Nearest tube stations
(North to South on Northern Line)
- Balham tube station
- Tooting Bec tube station
- Tooting Broadway tube station
- Colliers Wood tube station
- South Wimbledon tube station
[edit] Nearest railway stations
- Tooting railway station
- Balham railway station
- Wandsworth Common railway station
- Haydons Road railway station
[edit] Shopping
The Tooting Markets are open Monday to Saturday with a wide range of small independent marketplace sellers. You can find green-lipped New Zealand mussels at the fishmonger right next door to a lace and fabric stall. The markets also contain a pet shop, CD store, women's shoe stall, tattoo parlour, bakery, coffee shop, nail salon and much more. The best day to go is Saturday. The markets are closed on Sunday.
The Tooting Broadway is a centre of the Pakistani community of south London. There are many Pakistani clothes shops, sweet shops and Restaurants. There are also many Somalis, Tamils and Jamaicans in the area.
Tooting also plays host to a range of chain stores including; Marks & Spencers, Snappy Snaps, New Look, Budgens, Peacocks, Primark, Mothercare, Sainsbury's, Clarks, Holland & Barrett, Greggs, Tesco's The real pleasure can be found in all the non-chain stores that boast a great range of fabrics, clothes, shoes, meat, vegetables, cookware and more.
[edit] Notable residents
- Matt Willis
- Darren Bent
- Bas Savage
- Sandi Thom
- Christopher "Toots" Vivion
- Kenny Day
