Sydenham Town Forum

Our Sydenham telephone numbe r

In the olden days when telephones were attached to the wall with a short cord, there was a peculiar but very easy method to verbally relay a telephone number.

Inner city areas, towns and villages had a three digit prefix created from the place name. So SYDenham was ...

I noticed something about the last photo that I posted. There is a small structure, not unlike a glass house on the roof at the building at the back. When compared with a previous photo I posted on this page and at: https://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=195782#p195782 the same structure had ...

A short but somewhat macabre story based my childhood memory, involves the high wall at the bottom of our garden.

It was not unusual back in the day, for people to add a rather cheap but gruesome security feature to walls that they didn't want people to clamber over. The back wall of our ...

Cold? ... it was ffffffffreezing!

Summers in Sydenham were a wonderful thing in an old Victorian house such as ours. Whilst always a struggle to open due to decades of paint, the old sash windows would allow a pleasing cool breeze to blow through rooms and corridors carrying the gentle sound of ...

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and I will post more stories with photos in the near future.

I agree that we were the lucky generation (in this country at least) ...I often remind people that we have never faced the terror of bombs falling from the sky; nobody has forced us out in a ...

My parents purchased the entire freehold property of 15 Charleville Circus in March 1958 for £1,725. [That is not a typo – under two grand, pound sterling!] I'm not sure how unusual it was even in those days, but they had a private mortgage with the previous owner. £1,425 borrowed over ten years ...

An interesting and quite rare engraving I found of the Walter Cobb Depository in Silverdale.

https://family-times.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/shared-links/WalterCobb_Depository.jpg

The building still exists but with an additional floor and repurposed into residential apartments.

https://goo.gl ...

Another view of the school in much earlier and busier times.

Picture taken from an old postcard:

I took a couple of photos of my first school when my 'future' wife and I did a 'back-to-our-roots' tour during the summer of 2003. She a girl from Kilburn and me a Sydenham boy.

As a young 7-8 year old I remember on the Wells Park Road side of the playground, sitting perched on the narrow concrete ...

I too remember Miss Coggins. She made me stand in the corner because I forgot my 7 times table. I still have trouble with it today and I'm a teacher myself! My mum came up to the school to tell her off for bullying me. Do you remember collecting and swapping buttons and/or American civil war cards ...

I found the previously mentioned 1946 aerial photograph at:
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EAW000568

You need to register (for free) in order to zoom in close and quite clearly see the house number 7 Amberley Road (Amberley Grove).

The 1952 map view mentioned is also available online ...

I've posted this image on another page of the forum https://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=195782#p195782

This is a 1963 winter view from one of the upper rear windows of 15 Charleville Circus. The focus is on a mysterious building that is the central topic discussed the other page. Is it ...

Hello - I'm a newbie here!

I see this topic has rested for several years but I wonder if this photograph from my family collection might contain some pointers and regenerate interest on the subject.

This shot was taken c.1963 from the rear of 15 Charleville Circus. There is a small clue when you ...

Another street view of 15 Charleville Circus taken from a different angle.

I believe the house on the left was called 'crossways' is that correct?

First photo posted - 15 Charleville Circus in 1965.

You can just see the ivy starting to creep up the wall – recent photos show the front of the house covered in foliage. My mum's washing can also be glimpsed blowing on the line in the back garden.

https://family-times.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com ...

My first childhood home was 15 Charleville Circus in Sydenham, where my parents, three brothers and I lived from 1958 until 1966.

As well of many happy memories, I am guardian of a huge family treasure trove of documents, letters and photographs that was handed down to me for safe-keeping. I've ...