Brixton
Brixton is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, and in the traditional county of Surrey.
There is a massive clubbing and live music scene with world renowned venues such as the Mass, the Fridge, the 414, Brixton Academy amongst others. Drum and Bass producer Dillinja is from here. Former British Prime Minister John Major spent part of his childhood in a two-room flat off Coldharbour Lane, and started his political career as a Lambeth Councillor while still living in the area.
Brixton was the scene of race riots in April 1981 and September 1985. In both cases the riots saw young black men reacting to concerns over discriminatory and heavy-handed "stop-and-search" policing. Following the 1981 riots, the Government appointed Lord Scarman to report. Although the Brixton area subsequently saw pioneering community policing iniatives, the continued death in police custody of young black men led to smaller scale protests through the 1990s.
More recently, Brixton's symbolic role at the "soul of Black Britain" led to a 1996 visit by Nelson Mandela, but also attracted the attention of neo-nazi bomber David Copeland in a 1999 blast that injured 39 people.
The heart of Brixton is the Market, open every day selling produce from all over the world. The song Electric Avenue was written by Eddie Grant referring to part of the market (come out of the tube, turn left then left again) which was the first street in Britain to be lit with electric lamps. The market sells a huge range of Afro Caribbean products amongst others.
Director Richard Parry shot a film here (released in 2001) called South West Nine (SW9), referring to the post code covering much of central Brixton. Confusingly, this post code is actually for Stockwell, whereas SW2 (the Brixton Hill sorting office) also covers much of Streatham Hill
Nearby places
Nearest tube station:
Nearest railway station:
Brixton is served by many bus routes.