Sydenham Town Forum

Greg, as I didn't spot them I can't really comment on the plinths. Are they stone or concrete, and were there any markings on them? Somewhere in that area there may be a surviving property stone. When Sydenham Common was enclosed (it covered what is now Upper Sydenham and Forest Hill) between 1810 a...

This is all looking rather interesting and you can certainly count me in. I have a some hundreds of postcards and other images of my own that can be used without copyright problems so that would be something to start with. As regards maps, I have a number of originals (such as the Stanford map) and ...

did shops really continue from Cobb's Corner down to Peak Hill or not? No, I don't think they did. Both the 1894 and 1912 street directories show shops between Peak Hill Avenue as far as the bench-mark (BM 179.4) on the 1914 map. They were occupied by a bootmaker, tailor, Victoria Wine Co and so on...

Falkor said:

Hey, check this out BTW...

Shhhh ... I'm hoping to bid for it!

On the walk I mentioned to rebelmc that there was a picture of the back of The Wood. The original is in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth, which confirms the close link of the Duke of Devonshire with this house. I've uploaded it here

It's not a rumour;Lewisham local studies has a collection of material relating to the bombing and rebuilding of Cobbs. The copies of the bomb damage maps are indeed very limited, they were only issued to fully paid-up members of the London Topographical Society last year, with none left over for gen...

I hope you are right, Greg, but my impression was the same as Pat's - the tiled area definitely seemed smaller than when I first saw it. It was then possible to enter from the Spring Hill entrance and pass straight through, past the reception desk, into the main bar. At the least the area has been r...

It is difficult to put a precise date to these buildings, but the feeling is that they were built during the late 1820s. The building that has just been demolished was occupied by Benjamin Parsey (a major local builder) and his descendents from before 1837 until after 1902.

Falkor, I believe you're right about the development of Paxton Park. I've uploaded a couple of pictures of what I understand is Acacia Road, from the Sydenham Society's collection, together with the relevant part of Stanford's 1862 map, here: http://tinyurl.com/n72xv . I would guess the pictures wer...

The link below gives access to a number of very valuable research resources that are available to Lewisham Library card holders. The DNB, Grove (who lived in Sydenham) and Times archive are incredibly useful, as is xrefer. A few sites can only be accessed from a library, but most can be used from ho...

The land on east side of Lawrie Park Road, (odd numbers) on which these houses were built was originally part of grounds of the Old Cedars. Development of the estate began in the late 1880s (from your floorboard I would suppose 1887, and much of it had been completed by 1889). In 1889 Joseph Fogerty...

Excellent pictures, Falkor. It looks like you all had a thoroughly enjoyable, and informative, walk. I have a few comments, which may be of interest. The caption to Sunnydene, 108 Westwood Hill, suggests that the house was a former German embassy, with an eagle on top. I don't buy that. I've been to...

When I first read ChrisF's posts I though perhaps he had mild learning difficulties, and his brave attempts to communicate with others should be applauded. I then I began to wonder whether he was, in fact, the alter ego of one of our more restrained contributors (it is possible to have more than one...

In another thread SamC said: i have to admit i did originally use a false address as at the time i was not sure if i should reveal my real address for internet safety reasons. This is no criticism of you at all, SamC, but it set me thinking. Why do so many apparently concerned and genuine contributo...

I really shouldn't answer for Falkor, and he may want to correct me, but I believe many of the pictures were taken by the LCC architects' department before and during the redelevopment of this part of Wells Park Road. In the aftermath of the war there was a severe shortage of adequate housing and th...

Assuming I'm one of the Steves mentioned, I won't be able to make it on Sunday - off to Barcelona for a birthday treat. Anyway, I look forward to reading about it here when I return.

Will add more photos in due course...

I'm looking forward to that. Thanks.

I've put part of the tithe map with the other Wells Park maps. You can't see much detail as it's a poor quality photocopy; you'd have to go to local studies to see the original. Each plot of land on the map is numbered, and local studies has an index showing the owner of each plot, and the tenant an...

Falkor I've uploaded extracts from both the 1862 and 1878 Stanford's maps - http://tinyurl.com/noel5 - for comparison. In the 1861 census there are entries for 1-6 Prospect Place, and they are occupied by a gardener, carpenter, bricklayer, railway excavator etc. Clearly not shops, but I suspect a te...

Nothing wrong with your map-reading, Greg. There was a station there. It was demolished in 1982 when the platform was moved to its present position, on the other side of the bridge. I've put uploaded some pictures here:
http://tinyurl.com/euav2