Fireman Bob — a hero of Wimbledon — returns to his old station

Plus: Hyperrealistic art with a ballpoint pen, live music, and the shocking wait time for social housing in Merton

Apr 17, 2025

Good morning Wimblers — welcome to this week’s edition.

Last week, I asked you if you are in favour of Merton’s new e-bike cycling bays. 400 of you voted: 33% were in favour of the bays; 69% were against. Do those results represent local opinion, or are the cyclists in this neck of the woods just not reading The Wimble yet? Tell me in the comments.

News snippets 🗞

🏚 Merton has one of the longest social housing waiting lists in London, new figures show. A recent analysis by the National Housing Federation found that families waiting for properties with three bedrooms or more would be waiting for 102 years at the current rate of progress. To put this into context, the average waiting time in London is 27 years (although that average includes lots of boroughs with a much less constrained housing market, of course). Read more here.

☘️ The story of The Dubliners — one of Ireland’s most iconic bands — comes to the New Wimbledon Theatre. Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners will play at the theatre on May 10, and, according to writer and director Ged Graham, the show promises to be “the world’s biggest celebration of The Dubliners over the past decade”. Check out more about the show here.

🗑 Merton is launching a new and improved street cleaning and bin collection services. Starting at the beginning of this month, the council began managing street cleaning directly, rather than outsourcing it. Every residential street in the borough will now be cleaned at least once a week, with town centres also receiving better and more frequent cleaning. Read their press release here.

Property of the week 🏡

Ok, so this might not be the most “glamorous” house that we’ve featured, but it’s got buckets of character and loads of room for improvement. This six-bed fully-detached house is also ridiculously close to the station. There are four bathrooms, three reception rooms and even a rear garden — though the garden is in need of some TLC. I particularly like the kitchen, the landings, and those rather stylish staircases. Check out more photos on Rightmove, where the property is going for just under £2 million.

The Wimble’s to-do list 💷

🖊 Something Classy AF: A Solo Exhibition by James Mylne: Ad Lib Gallery present a new exhibition by Britain’s “premier ballpoint pen artist”, James Mylne. Using his tools, Mylne reimagines traditional styles with a contemporary twist. Mylne tends to favour the Bic Biro and manages to create these photorealistic images with startling clarity.

Where: Ad Lib Gallery, Wimbledon Village

When: Thursday 17 April - Sunday 27 April

🎼 St John’s Lunchtime Recital: Flute & Organ: The lunchtime recitals are back with a bang — perhaps bang is the wrong word in the context of classical music? Either way, get yourself down to St John’s next Friday to hear Ruth Stockdale (flute) and Robert Mingay-Smith (organ) performing some great pieces by Mozart, Bach and Chaminade. Oh, and did I mention that this event is FREE?

Where: St John the Baptist, SW19

When: Friday 25 April, 1:00 PM (refreshment served from 12:30 PM)

🧺 Artisan Market at Cannizaro House: Take a gander up to the beautiful Cannizaro House and peruse over 30 independent businesses selling everything from jewellery to dog accessories.

Where: Cannizaro House

When: Saturday 19 April, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

🎤 Live Music at The Old Frizzle: Playing all the classic covers from soul to country, grab a drink at The Old Frizzle and have a boogie this Saturday evening. What is the quintessential live music pub song? I think it’s a toss-up between ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Rock DJ’, and ‘Sweet Caroline’. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below if you think it’s something else.

Where: The Old Frizzle

When: Saturday 19 April, 9:00 PM - onwards

🦜 Wimbledon Common Easter Bird Walk: This weekend, join an expert volunteer to learn about the varied bird wildlife of Wimbledon Common. Refreshments are available at the end of the walk, and do bring your own binoculars if you have them. Note that the walk is roughly 2-3 miles long. The walk is FREE, but you need to book a spot here.

Where: The Ranger’s Office, Wimbledon Common

When: Saturday 19 April, 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Meet Bob Stone: Firefighter, father and Wimbledon legend 🚒

Robert (Bob) Stone was born in Wimbledon in 1947. After leaving school at 14, he took on various jobs 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. On Monday, Bob and I sat down in The Fire Station Café, the former site of Wimbledon Fire Station. I asked Bob about his life as a firefighter, the changing landscape of Wimbledon, and why this area means so much to him.

Bob in 1977 during the national firefighters pay strike / image credit: Bob Stone

It’s a sunny day in Wimbledon’s town centre. Bob sits opposite me in The Fire Station Café. I ask him if it’s strange to be back after all these years. “This café has been lovely to see,” he says, looking around. He points at various parts of the room and paints a picture of yesteryear. “I’m so glad that they kept the bay window. That window holds a lot of memories for me. It was in front of that very window where we set up our table on the first day of the 1977 strike.”

The strike lasted for nine weeks and saw the Fire Brigade receive a 16 per cent pay increase. “We had tremendous support from the people of Wimbledon back then. They saw us working in and around the area every day and had a great respect for what we did.”

I ask Bob to take me back to the beginning. After leaving school at 14, he took a job at Forget Me Not Cards on a local factory estate. He left that job at 15 and went to work at two different golf courses on Wimbledon Common. But after his wife became pregnant with their first child, Sarah, Bob took a job at the London Stock Exchange. “It was good money, but I got fed up with it over time. I didn’t like the people and they didn’t like me. I used to get on the tube at South Wimbledon station with my copy of The Sun and my colleagues would get on at Clapham and places like that with their copies of the FT, and they would just ignore me. And I didn’t really love the job.”

His career break came via his dad. “My dad used to read the Daily Mirror, and I was just visiting my parents one day and having a flick through the sports pages when I came across an advert for the London Fire Brigade,” he tells me. “That was 1973. I started my training, which took 12 weeks, and joined my first station in New Malden in 1974.” New Malden was different back then, he says. On his first day, the Station Manager took Bob’s axe from him and replaced it with a pitchfork. “It was a very rural area. We dealt with a lot of farm fires, and it was much quieter there than in Wimbledon.” In 1975, he transferred to Wimbledon’s fire station. He was here for just under three years before the strike started.

Bob standing outside The Fire Station Café, the same spot where he once stood during the 1977 firefighters pay strike / image: Zak Asgard

I wonder aloud what a day in the life of a firefighter was like in the 70s. “House fires were the bread and butter of firefighting in those days. That’s largely because fire education was so bad, what with paraffins and terrible electricals … and people weren’t as cautious when it came to fire safety. I mean, we had residents using silver paper for fuse wire.” But it’s not just the people that have changed. When Bob was fighting fires in Wimbledon, the Brigade’s equipment was nothing like it is today. Most of their rescue kits were only a fraction as practical as their updated models.

But Wimbledon had its fair share of big fires, too: “We had regular fires at the Merton Board Mills. They had all this paper stacked tightly together, and we’d have to go there quite often. The difference between now and then is that in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and even the early 90s, firefighters would turn up to a fire and they would go in.” Since then, times have changed: “We didn’t have the equipment they have now. We used to enter a building and contain the fire to one room. Today, fires often burn through a whole house because they have to do an H&S and risk assessment first.”

He points at the bay window in the café and tells me that the teleprinter used to sit beneath it: “When that went off, and it said ‘persons reported’, we knew we had a job. And then we would get all rigged up and go. Because it took so long to set things up when we got to a fire, we just went in.”

I ask Bob to tell me if there’s any particular day that he’s proudest of, if there’s any moment from his time serving the community that sticks out to him: “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 when a fire broke out.” That day, the bar was having barrels delivered. Bob and his colleague were enjoying a beer when they began to smell smoke. “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 jumped into action and managed to get through the smoke and rescue him. When Bob retired in 2000, the London Fire Commissioner sent Bob a letter. In it, he commended him for his service, but he also drew special attention to that day in 1982 when Bob was off-duty and drinking in the Manor Club.

Bob (right) at the New Malden Fire Station / image credit: Bob Stone

We chat a little while longer about Bob’s career as a firefighter, his retirement, how he became a Fire Safety Officer for events and famous film premiers like Pearl Harbour and the first Fast & Furious instalment. And then I ask Bob about Wimbledon. Why did he stay here for all these years?

“It’s about the memories. I have memories of being raised here, of raising my two daughters here, of my wife. It means so much to me, this area,” he says. “South park Gardens, seeing The Beatles at the old Wimbledon Palais, working for the fire brigade at the Wimbledon Championships for 25 years. I think people like me are a dying breed in Wimbledon, but this area means a lot to me. It means everything.”

Bob has an abundance of amazing stories and insights, and if anyone reading this article would like to ask him a question, please do get in touch via my email or comment below.

Question of the week 🔍

Last week, I asked you which of these plays debuted at the New Wimbledon Theatre. 14% chose Jerusalem; 12% chose Present Laughter; 30% chose The Birthday Party; 8% chose Arcadia; and 36% chose Oliver!. The answer: Oliver!.

Q: What year did The Beatles play at Wimbledon Palais? Hint: There is mention of it in our interview with Bob Stone.

You’re up to date 👋

Thank you for reading this week’s edition. I hope that you enjoyed our feature with Bob. Please leave a comment below if you have anything you want to say to Bob or ask him, and I can pass your messages along. Other than that, have a great rest of the week. See you next time.