Thamesfield is the face of Putney presented
to millions worldwide at the start of the annual University Boat
Race. It covers the enitre Putney embankment from Putney Creek where
Beverley Brook enters the Thames, east past Putney Bridge, past the
railway bridge, past Wandsworth Park to the mouth of the river
Wandle.
Putney High Street is entirely within
Thamesfield, along with Putney mainline station and Putney Common on
the edge of the borough with Barnes. Particularly west of Putney
High Street there are large, mansion-type semi-detached houses in a
maze of residential back streets either side of Lower Richmond Road.
East of the Wimbledon Branch District Line, the
character of Thamesfield does change somewhat. The houses are either
multi-occupied or smaller terraced and semi detached
properties.
There is very little council housing here - an
estate in Horne Way in the far west of the ward and in The Platt
behind Putney High Street is just about it. This is less than 10% of
all homes in the ward, compared to over 60% which is owner
occupied.
Labour edged the ward in Tony Colman’s 2001
General Election victory, mainly due to the popularity of new Labour
in this part of the world, but also in part due to the fury local
residents felt about the closure of the popular garden centre - in
the ward, and the attempted sale of Ashlone Wharf and Putney School
of Art which were only saved after massive local campaigns.
This appalling treatment of Putney by the
Conservative Council's leadership - who represent the ward -
resulted in independent candidates contesting Thamesfield and
a marked swing away from the Tories at the 2002 council elections. |
Facts & figures
Population: 12,338
Housing tenure:
Owner-occupied: 59.5%
Public sector renting: 9.6%
Private sector renting: 27.4%
Household type:
Detached/Semi detached: 11.6%
Terraced: 30.7%
Purpose-built flats: 22.9%
Multi-occupancy house: 30.5%
Employment:
Full-time employed: 55.8%
Self-employed: 13.2%
Unemployed: 3.1%
Retired: 6.7%
Students: 5.9%
Socio-economic bands:
Professional/Managerial: 61.4%
Skilled/unskilled manual: 15.5%
Ethnicity:
White: 91.8%
Black/Minority Ethnic: 8.2%
Source: 2001 Census |
