Battersea was definitely not fashionable when John and Valerie Cumming moved to Prince of Wales Drive next to Battersea Park in 1975. But it was cheap, its rented flats inhabited by an eclectic mix of intellectuals, artists and locals. “You had MPs, journalists, decision-makers, and there used to be a native population,” says Valerie. “If you were born in Battersea that was where your family roots were. When we first moved here, there were families who had been in Battersea for 100 years,” says Valerie, a former deputy director of the Museum of London. “The riverfront was a mess as industrial activity slowed.