Electric Avenue

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This article refers to Electric Avenue, Brixton, London. See also Electric Avenue (disambiguation)

Electric Avenue in Brixton, London, gets its name from being the first electrified shopping area in London. The street was built in the 1880s and now hosts Brixton Market, selling a mix of Caribbean, English, Portuguese and Chinese products. It is located just round the corner from Brixton tube station (1972). The elegant Victorian canopies over the pavements survived until the 1980s. The road gave its name to the song by Eddy Grant. John Major is fabled to have bought kippers here.

In April 1999, a homemade nail bomb exploded in the market, injuring 48 people, including a security guard who was trying to move disbelieving shoppers and a 14-year-old boy who picked the bomb up and carried it away from the crowds. The bomb was one of three detonated by far-right extremist David Copeland in attacks aimed at London's black, Asian, and gay communities.

[edit] Notes and references

• Bomb warning 'ignored'. BBC News, 19 April 1999. Retrieved 16 Feb 2006.
• Brixton local history with photos