Search found 34 matches

by Chris Doran
27 Jan 2011 21:16
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Betts Park
Replies: 4
Views: 5427

Re: Betts Park

Betts Park began in 1927 when Penge Council bought the house and grounds of "Oak Lawn", at one time the vicarage of Holy Trinity Church, Penge, on the corner of Croydon Road and Anerley Road (destroyed in WW2 bombing). The extensive grounds of the house included much of the Croydon Canal r...
by Chris Doran
4 Jan 2011 21:57
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: House Names - Crystal Palace Park Road
Replies: 2
Views: 3678

Re: House Names - Crystal Palace Park Road

Identification is complicated by the fact that the houses were at first named, then numbered, then the evens were renumbered in 1927, but by my reckoning, its pre-1927 number was 54 and it was first called Oaklands, but Valetta in directories from 1885 on. Some early inhabitants were:- 1878-81: Geor...
by Chris Doran
26 Jul 2010 00:47
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: allotments in sydenham area
Replies: 4
Views: 6310

Re: allotments in sydenham area

The issue of the Beckenham & Penge Advertiser for 31st October 1940, page 2, reported that allotments in Crystal Palace Park had been abandoned because the soil was unsuitable. The Crystal Palace Company's warnings of this had gone unheeded.
by Chris Doran
13 Jul 2010 03:18
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Help! Aerial view of The Crystal Palace
Replies: 9
Views: 9872

Re: Help! Aerial view of The Crystal Palace

A set of six aerial views from every direction has just appeared on eBay -- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SE-LONDON-CRYSTAL-PALACE-EXHIBITION-SITE-PLANE-3-/390217848692?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Collectables_Postcards_MJ&hash= (item 390217848692) and others from the same seller. The listings have high qual...
by Chris Doran
2 Jul 2010 04:02
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: S E C railway
Replies: 1
Views: 2060

The line through Lower Sydenham was run by the South Eastern & Chatham Railway.
by Chris Doran
7 Feb 2010 04:50
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Sydenham Hill In Old Photos
Replies: 23
Views: 53312

Beckenham and Penge are covered pretty well to exhaustion in the photo galleries of Ian's Beckenham History site at http://www.beckenhamhistory.co.uk/galleryintro_new.html He has access to an enormous library of old pictures that dwarf my collection. It would be a challenging, and perhaps superfluou...
by Chris Doran
28 Jan 2010 07:54
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Sydenham Hill In Old Photos
Replies: 23
Views: 53312

There's currently a picture of Manor House on Delcampe: http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,80 ... age,E.html Click on the picture to enlarge.
by Chris Doran
12 Jan 2010 00:49
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Shoe Repairers, Kirkdale, mid 1900s
Replies: 1
Views: 4172

Shoe Repairers, Kirkdale, mid 1900s

Someone on another forum is trying to find something about an uncle who had a shoe repairer's shop in or around Kirkdale, probably from WW2 to the 1970s. She doesn't appear to have his surname. I have offered several names from my limited number of Sydenham directories, but none ring a bell. It may ...
by Chris Doran
24 Jul 2009 00:07
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: London City Mission, Wells Park Road
Replies: 6
Views: 10776

The London City Mission still exists and will respond to enquiries about its history (at least someone I referred to them got a reply). A donation to their cause if they help would doubtless not go amiss.
by Chris Doran
24 Jul 2009 00:02
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Missing Steps At Crystal Palace
Replies: 36
Views: 42495

It's available now on DVD from The Crystal Palace Foundation. Copies on VHS appear on eBay etc. from time to time. The plot (if there is one) is a bit incomprehensible, but the views are everything this thread leads you to expect.
by Chris Doran
2 Jul 2009 14:40
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: WHAT WAS HOUSE OF CURTAINS BEFORE IT WAS HOUSE OF CURTAINS
Replies: 9
Views: 8111

If it's of interest, the 1972 Kelly's London directory has for No 56: Record Forum, gramophone record dealers.

(I could put the whole 1972 Sydenham Road page on the apposite thread, but I'm unsure whether copyright would permit that much?)
by Chris Doran
15 Apr 2009 02:47
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Electoral Roll in 1930's and 40's
Replies: 16
Views: 18464

Kelly's directories for the inter-war years have for No 31:- 1922-24: Frederick James Thearle 1925-26: no entry 1927-34: Mrs Barrett 1935-36: no entry 1937-39: Frank Pentecost Apropos the theatrical museum, the 1983 Thompson's Directory gives: 5 Venner Road, Raymond Mander & Joe Mitchenson, thea...
by Chris Doran
12 Apr 2009 16:29
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: Electoral Roll in 1930's and 40's
Replies: 16
Views: 18464

Lewisham only have one pre-WW2 Electoral Roll (1938 or thereabouts), which you have to ask to see. Post-WW2 ERs are on open shelves. If it's Venner Road you're interested in, be aware that 77/90 and up are in Beckenham. Between them, Bromley Local Studies and Beckenham Library have most Beckenham ER...
by Chris Doran
10 Mar 2009 03:04
Forum: Town Museum & Gallery
Topic: County boundaries
Replies: 8
Views: 8260

All but a tiny portion of Crystal Palace Park is/was in Penge and Beckenham, both of which were in Kent between 1900 and 1965. According to Lionel Crossley's book, the speedway track actually ran around the then football pitch, where the sports centre building now stands, and into the park round the...