Positively Putney vows to:

Promote Putney as a welcoming place to shop, live and work.

Make Putney a safer and cleaner town centre.

Encourage Putney businesses to work together

Fun Facts

T. Rex Tragedies

Marc Bolan, lead singer of glam rock band T. Rex, lived on Upper Richmond road. Sadly, on the 16^th September 1977, Marc was the passenger of a purple mini which crashed on Queens Ride. The sycamore tree, which the car came to rest at, has become a lasting tribute for Bolan and the music he brought to the world in the 70s.

Big Ideas

Putney was home to the Putney Debates in 1647. Oliver Cromwell negotiated a settlement with defeated King Charles I in St Mary’s Church. Some of the ideas which were debated included the right to a democratically elected parliament, rather than with a monarch, and freedom from conscription into the armed forces. The Putney Debates inspired much of the language for the US Declaration of Independence. For more information on St Mary’s Church, visit http://stmarys.parishofputney.com/

Football Favourites

Gary Lineker is regularly spotted on Putney High Street. A retired English footballer and sports broadcaster, Gary is most recognised for his role as the lead presenter on Match of the Day.

Famous Friends

Pierce Brosnan attended Elliot School in Putney, now known as Ark Putney Academy.

Bridge in Retaliation

In 1720 Sir Robert Walpole was returning from seeing George I at Kingston upon Thames. He was in a hurry to get to the House of Commons and so rode with his servant to Putney to catch the ferry across to Fulham. Unfortunately, the ferry boat was on the opposite side of the river and the waterman, who was drinking himself drunk in the Swan, ignored the calls of Sir Robert. Sir Robert and his servant were forced to take another route and Sir Robert vowed, on that day, a bridge would replace the ferry.

Bridge vs Bus

In 2014, the 424 bus mounted the pavement and crashed through the stone wall of Putney Bridge which caused the bus to hang over the edge. The bus driver could only be freed by the London Fire Brigade. Luckily no one suffered serious injuries.

Murderous Mentions

Serial killer, John Christie, was arrested on the embankment near Putney Bridge in 1953. All he was carrying in his possession were a few coins and a newspaper clipping about the remand of Timothy Evans, the man who was wrongfully arrested and sentenced to death for Christie’s crimes three years previously.

Second the Best

Putney Bridge was the second bridge to be built after London Bridge. Before it existed the journey to central London would have been very difficult.

Bridge Brothers

Putney Bridge is the only bridge in Britain to have a church at both ends. St. Mary's Church is located on the south bank and All Saints Church is located on the north bank.

Your Bridge or Mine?

Putney Bridge was originally called Fulham Bridge.

The Oldest Pint

In the mid-nineteenth century Henry Scarth, a local solicitor and property developer, was developing the area which, today, is located around The Arab Boy pub. Scarth built The Arab Boy in 1849 and named it after Yussef Sirrie, a boy that he had met in Turkey in 1843. Yussef became Scarth's servant and eventually became landlord of the pub. The Arab Boy is the oldest pub in Putney.

Tudor Ties

Thomas Cromwell, who was Chief Minister for King Henry VIII between 1532 and 1540, was born in Putney around 1485 although the exact date is unknown.

Council Tax Lows

Putney is in the Wandsworth Borough which has had the cheapest council tax in the whole country. Putney and Westminster have been competing for the cheapest council tax for at least the last ten years.

Rowing Club Glory

There are more than 20 rowing clubs on the riverside of Putney, many of which have trained Olympic champions. Mark Aldred, who competed for GB Lightweight Men's Four, and Jess Eddie, who won silver in Rio with the Women's Eight, both trained at London Rowing Club which is 160 years old. For more information on LRC, visit www.londonrc.org.uk.

The University Boat Race

Putney is very proud to have been home to The Boat Race since 1836 - a race which sees the crews from Cambridge and Oxford University Boat Clubs compete over the 4.2-mile course between Putney Bridge and Chiswick Bridge. To date, the competition has remained close with Cambridge leading Oxford by a handful of points. For more information visit http://theboatraces.org/

Putney Riverlife Art Competition

Do you enjoy creating pictures, painting, photography, drawing or mixed media? Positively Putney would like to invite you to participate in the ‘Putney Riverlife’ competition.

As Putney becomes a national focus in the lead up to The Boat Race in April, we would like to invite to you to create a piece of work with the theme of ‘Putney Riverlife’ to celebrate the River Thames and its surrounds here in Putney. Winning and highly commended work will be displayed in Putney Library.

This competition is opening all ages. Pieces are to be no bigger than A3 and must be able to be displayed hanging from a wall. Please attach the Submission form with all artworks.

The closing date for submissions is Friday 29th March 2019. Please submit work to:

Positively Putney, Embankment Studios , Embankment, Putney, SW15 1LB

Terms and Conditions

The competition is open to all ages. Work must be no bigger than A3 and two dimensional (sculptures, installations and other free standing work can not be accepted due to storage and display requirements). Frames and hooks should not be included in your submission. Your artwork must be sent to us by Friday 29th March 2019. The selectors’ decisions are final and we are unable to offer feedback. If you would like to collect your work following the competition this will be the artists responsibility. The copyright and all other intellectual property rights in and to Works, will remain the property of the artist and any enquiries in relation to such rights will be referred to the artist. Positively Putney reserve the right to use works submitted for the competition for use in PR, social media and marketing of Putney. In such cases work will be credited with the artists name and the competition. If you have further questions of queries please send them to info@positivelyputney.co.uk with the heading ‘Putney Riverlife Art Competion’.