A celebration of a local Wimbledon hero
Plus: Where to go for World Book Day
Good morning, Wimblers — I hope that everyone has had a lovely week thus far.
Last week, I attended a celebration in honour of Bob Stone, who was a firefighter at Wimbledon’s Fire Station in the 1970s. We interviewed Bob last year — read the piece here — and I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to highlight his story again. Scroll down to read about Bob’s achievements and to see a few snapshots from the evening.
We’ve also got your usual news snippets, a fantastic property of the week and loads of recommendations for the coming days.
As Mother’s Day is coming up, we’re looking to champion the amazing women in our borough. If you would like to nominate your mother or another woman that you know, then get in touch and tell us why: zak@thewimble.com.
Happy reading!
News snippets 🗞
🚨 Luke Brereton, 40, from Mitcham, was fatally stabbed on The Broadway in Wimbledon’s town centre on Sunday. Police officers were called at 12.37am and attended the scene alongside the London Ambulance Service. Sadly, Brereton died at the scene. Amar Zaraf, 35, from Kingston, has been arrested and charged with murder and possession of a bladed article, appearing at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday 23 February. The first image of the victim was released earlier this week.
🏗 Neighbours of the disused gasworks in Motspur Park fear redevelopment plans for the site could cause a “nightmare” for locals. Gas firm SGN and developer Berkeley Homes submitted plans to demolish the three gasholders to make way for five apartment towers containing 586 homes. Some local residents say that the buildings would be too tall, overlook people’s homes and change the character of the area for the worse. They have also claimed that the development would threaten wildlife, including peregrine falcons, bats, newts and slow worms. Read more about the situation here.
⚒️ A £12 million cable upgrade is making electricity supplies around Wimbledon and Wandsworth more secure. The upgrade reinforces two major substations in south west London and will supply electricity to more than 57,000 residents (including businesses). The first circuit has already been energised, and the second is due to be turned on in the summer. Once complete, the circuits will form an 8 kilometre route between Wimbledon and Wandsworth. Read more details here.
🚓 Two boys aged 15 and 17 were rushed to hospital after being stabbed in Mitcham last Thursday evening. The 17 year old was found in Lindsey Close at around 6.40pm and was rushed to a major trauma centre in an unknown condition. Another 999 call later came in at 7.05pm reporting a second boy, aged 15, with stab wounds on Radnor Close. He was taken to hospital, where his injuries were deemed not to be life-threatening. Two men, 19 and 22, were later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Read more about it here.
🇰🇷 A Korean-themed waiting room has been unveiled in New Malden station in recognition of the area’s Korean diaspora: the largest, most concentrated community of its kind in Europe, with an estimated 20,000 people of Korean heritage (hence it being nicknamed “Koreatown”). The reopening coincided with the Lunar New Year — known as Seollal in Korea — which is considered one of the country’s most important holidays. The waiting room has an illustration by artist Meekyoung Shin, as well as a sign in the modern Korean writing system, Hangul. Click here to see some photos of the new room.
This week’s Wimble sponsor ⛳️
Caddi Club is back with a new deal for the Six Nations! A burger and a pint is just £17 on any given match day. Of course, if rugby isn’t your thing, you can still pop in for a spot of golf, a bite to eat and something to drink. Just click the button below to learn more and to book your table or golf bay.
Property of the week 🏡
Just looking at the floorplan for this five-bedroom detached home gives me the spins. This place is huge; we’re talking Dallas big. Built in 2002, it’s just a few minutes from Cannizaro House and the common. While it may have an air of landed gentry, the inside of this house is about as modern as they come: Honeywell Evo heating, air conditioning, a media room, a 4K projector and a 65’ 4K OLED TV. To top it off, take a look at that separate garage at the front of the building — it’s bigger than most flats. With all of that considered, it should come as no surprise that this house is listed for £5 million. Check out more photos here.
Ask The Wimble❓
You asked: Do you know of any new openings in the town centre?
Answer: The Wimble got in touch with Craig Hurring (Chief Executive of Love Wimbledon) who recently attended the London Borough of Merton’s Wimbledon Community Forum. He confirmed with us that there will be 10 new openings. Here’s a list of the confirmed brands coming within the next year:
Rituals
Primark
Barclays
Office (the shoes retailer)
Wellface
Pitter Potter Cafe
Pizza Pilgrims
New hotel (name tbc)
Offices at 247 The Broadway
Fortius Private Hospital.
Do keep sending in your questions to zak@thewimble.com with the subject heading: Ask The Wimble
The Wimble’s to-do list 🌳
🏺 Exhibition: Objects of Enchantment: This exhibition encourages visitors to look closely at how the ordinary becomes the extraordinary. What happens when a simple object is lifted from daily life and placed on a museum plinth or turned into a painting? Local artist and artist in residence Alastair Gordon turns his eye to the museum’s collection, reinterpreting familiar objects and inviting viewers to reconsider what makes something worthy of attention, revealing how context, perception and imagination can turn the mundane into the marvellous. This event is entirely free and is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 2.30–5pm.
Where: Wimbledon Museum
When: Friday 6 February – Sunday 29 March
🎻 The Jigsaw Players: String Quintets and Art: The Jigsaw Players will be joined by Alison Clarke, a Wimbledon-based landscape artist who was chosen to appear on Sky’s Landscape Artist of the Year 2026. On the programme are Mozart, Bruckner and Brahms. Tickets are £15 (£5 for students and under-18s go free). Grab them here.
Where: Christ Church, West Wimbledon
When: Saturday 28 February, 7.30–9.30pm
🧺 Love Wimbledon monthly market: Each market brings fresh finds and seasonal favourites, with new traders joining regularly. Whatever it is that you fancy, this market has it: from Bombay Delight’s award-winning curries to secondhand vinyl classics courtesy of So Pop Vinyl.
Where: The Piazza, Wimbledon
When: Saturday 28 February – Sunday 1 March, 11am – 6pm
🏎 Southside Hustle Classic Car Meet: This informal monthly gathering of classic car owners in Wimbledon Village features a stunning and eclectic array of motors, some incredibly rare. And even if you don’t own one, it’s still worth making the journey to watch.
Where: Wimbledon Common (the village end near the farmers’ market)
When: Sunday 1 March, 8–11am
🌳 Wimbledon Common Nature Club: Trees: This March get-together is all about trees — children will try bark rubbing and learn how to identify different trees across the common. The club’s events are suitable for 6–14-year-olds, and parents are welcome to come along too. Note, these events are free but donations are always encouraged.
Where: Information Centre, Windmill Road
When: Sunday 1 March, 10am – 12pm
🥩 The Black Lamb x Vallebona Supper Club: For one night only, Oliver Gladwin welcomes Stefano Vallebona into the Black Lamb kitchen for a special supper club event. The menu brings together local and wild cooking with Vallebona’s Italian soul as well as some Japanese flair woven in along the way. Think relaxed, thoughtful cooking: fresh pasta layered with mushrooms and truffle and a main course that feels quietly indulgent without being showy. Tickets are £64 per person and can be booked here.
Where: The Black Lamb
When: Wednesday 4 March, 5–9pm
📚 Magic Quests presents World Book Day: Come and celebrate World Book Day at Merton Arts Space with a special bookish mash-up by Magical Quests. These are not quite the stories you think you know… What happens when Goldilocks enters the wrong house or Puss in Boots gives up his boots? Expect surprises, mischief and mayhem at this free event for children aged four and up.
Where: Wimbledon Library
When: Friday 6 March, 4.30pm
Celebrating a Wimbledon hero 🍾
Last April, The Wimble met with Robert (Bob) Stone for a piece about his life in Wimbledon and his service as a local firefighter in the 1970s. The interview generated a huge amount of positive comments and feedback, and we selected it as a piece for our summer print edition that year (you can read the full article here). A few weeks ago, I received an email from The Fire Station Café with the subject heading “Bob Stone — Fireman Thank You”. It was an invitation to an event celebrating Bob and the other firefighters who worked at The Fire Station Café when it was still an active station. I hadn’t seen Bob since our initial meeting last year, and I was keen to catch up with him and shine a light on the hard-working members of our community (retired or not) who have helped to keep our borough safe. Here is how it went.
Our reader base has nearly doubled since we first ran Bob’s story, so for those of you who are new, I thought it might be wise to recap Bob Stone’s life and achievements. Here’s the very abridged story.
Robert (Bob) Stone was born in Wimbledon in 1947. After leaving school at 14, he took on various jobs (including at the London Stock Exchange) before joining the London Fire Brigade in 1974. He worked in fire stations all over London — from New Malden to Fulham — but was instrumental in his service at Wimbledon’s fire station in the 70s.
When Bob was fighting fires in Wimbledon, the brigade’s equipment was nothing like it is today — for one, their rescue kits were only a fraction as practical as they are now. While house fires were the bread and butter of firefighting in the 70s, Wimbledon had its fair share of big fires too. Much of the Wimbledon brigade’s time was spent fighting fires at the old Merton Board Mill — apparently the mill stacked its paper very tightly, which was often the cause of a fire.
But even when Bob was off-duty, he was still fighting fires. When we met last year, I asked him to recount his “proudest moment” serving the community: “There used to be the Manor Club on Kingston Road. Now it’s a block of flats. I was off-duty and drinking there one day with a colleague from the Fulham station.” The day in question was barrel delivery day, and as Bob and a colleague enjoyed their beers, the smell of smoke began to creep up from the cellar. “We went to the cellar door, opened it, and the smoke came billowing out.” The cellar man, known to locals as Paps, was down there. Bob sprung into action, his firefighter brain taking over, and managed to get through the smoke to rescue Paps. When Bob retired years later in 2000, the London Fire Commissioner sent him a personal letter. In that letter, the commissioner drew special attention to Bob’s heroism that day when he was off-duty and drinking at the Manor Club.
A few weeks back, I attended a morris dancing session with the Wimbledon Greensleeves. There, I got talking to a member of the troupe called Tim Edwards. Sitting down in between dances, Tim leaned over and said, “I’ve been reading The Wimble. I was particularly interested in the story you ran about Bob Stone, the firefighter. I used to know Bob… we’re talking 40 years ago. We used to drink at the Manor Club on Kingston Road. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him; it was nice to find out that he’s doing well.”
At this point, I was already aware of the celebration happening at The Fire Station Café in Bob’s honour. Speaking with Tim, a thought occurred to me: “Why don’t you come to The Fire Station Café on the 18th? We’re doing a celebration for Bob and the brigade members. Come along! You can see if he remembers you after all these years.” Tim was more than happy to accept my invitation.
Twelve days later, in the pouring rain, I made my way to The Fire Station Café to see Bob again. I arrived a little early. Bob was already there with two other ex-members of the Wimbledon Fire Station as well as his family. The café had laid out a beautiful platter of food — though the cake was the real showstopper.
Bob introduced me to some of the other firefighters. Each of them regaled me with stories about their time in the brigade: different departments, the old teleprinters with their green and red lights, the shoddy equipment in London compared to other, smaller stations across the country. It was also interesting to learn that other firefighters across the UK were met with hostility from the local community when the first strike began in 1977. Not in Wimbledon: I recalled how Bob told me that the reception in SW19 was far kinder. In fact, the Alexandra pub (a favourite among locals even then) served the firefighters pints during the strike.
Tim arrived not long after me. I watched as Bob pointed at him and said, “Hang on, I remember you. How do I remember you? Where do we know each other from?” And then I continued to watch as the two of them swapped stories about the Manor Club and their lives since then. Forty years is a long time, but it’s also just yesterday for those that remember it.
It was a beautiful evening, and a reminder that we need to celebrate our local heroes. There’s not much more that needs to be said than that. Without events like these, the stories of our community are often lost or misremembered. Every area is rich with history, but as people move in and move out, we are prone to forgetting it.
Bob’s story touched a lot of our readers when we ran it last April, and we’d love to run more of these kinds of pieces. So I’ll take this opportunity to once again ask if anyone would like to nominate a local hero for a feature in our newsletter. If so, click the button below and drop me an email.
Other than that, let’s hear it for Bob, a real local hero.
Question of the week 🔍
Last week, I asked you what the tallest building in Merton was. The answer: Britannia Point in Colliers Wood.
Q: What road is Wimbledon Fire Station now located on?
You’re up to date 👋
Thank you for reading this week’s edition. I hope you enjoyed our recap of Bob’s story and the snippet from his celebration at The Fire Station Café. If you know of any local heroes, get in touch: zak@thewimble.com. Other than that, have a great week and we’ll see you next time!