Balham is in the South London Borough of Wandsworth; this area includes Upper Tooting and parts of Grosvenor Way. This neighbourhood area is served well by transport routes with Tooting Bec tube station to its South, Balham tube and rail station to its North East, Trinity road to its West, and the A24 to its East. Upper Tooting is quite residential with many 19th and 20th century homes. London’s only Sewing Machine Museum is located in this neighbourhood area, although it is only open on the first Saturday afternoon of each month, this museum is worth the wait.

The neighbourhood’s history dates back to the Domesday Book, where it was known as Belgeham, which means a rounded enclosure to a homestead, village, or river. The area was once a Saxon settlement, with Balham High Road leading to the Roman built Stane Street, which then goes on to Chichester. Balham was predominately a hamlet of farms, until 1856 where its Rail station opened. This led to an increase in population and development of the town centre.

London’s Sewing Machine Museum features a machine that was given to Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter; the Museum has had its fair share of fame, having been featured on ITV’s “London Tonight”, and Channel 4’s “Collectors Lot” programme. Another point of interest, Balham is situated between four South London commons: Graveny Common to the South, Tooting Bec Common to the East (these two are usually referred to solely as Tooting Common), Clapham Common to the North, and Wandsworth Common to the West.

A home care provider for the elderly in Wandsworth, Allied Healthcare, was at one point at risk of not being able to provide care, as it was reported by the Care Quality Commission that it would go bust by the end of 2018. Luckily, just two weeks after Allied Healthcare announced it would scaling down its operations in November 2018, it agreed to be bought by Health Care Resourcing Group, which runs recruitment agency CRG Healthcare, for an undisclosed amount. While many local authorities had already by then transferred their contracts to other providers, it’s nonetheless good news that Allied Healthcare has not been permanently closed.

Wandsworth Council’s Battersea power station recently finished a £9bn residential, retail and leisure development, much of which was designed by Foster + Partners and apartments by Frank Gehry architects. The initial proposal included 50% affordable homes, but only 9% of the properties ended up falling into this category. The power station and its new tube station were finally opened in September 2022. The tube stop at Battersea has been, however, operational since late 2021. Wandsworth Council is also the first to get fast fibre to the Home broadband to half of all social housing within the South London Borough.