Sydenham Town Forum

Question .
Where will we find the village green?
What rubbish, Kirkdale village!
Seems there are a large number of idiots ready to reside there!
For your information, the Road between Bell Green and Cobbs corner was known as Sydenham Road ,From Cobbs Corner to the Woodman was Kirkdale and from the ...

The Great Sydenham Fire - Sydenham in theTwenties.


It was in the late twenties when one lunch time, as we were coming out of school to go home for our lunch, (there was no such thing as meals served at schools in those days, or for parents to collect us kids in cars, we had to make our own way ...

Christmas in Sydenham in the Twenties

What memories!

Sometimes, maybe snow, but never very often, but children trying out their fairy bikes and scooters, dressed in new scarves and gloves.

Sounds from gramaphones playing in front rooms. Turkeys and geese cooking in the ovens as the Salvation ...

Yes. I well remember going into a newly opened record shop in Sydenham Road and asking the young assistant if she had a recording of "Copallia"! She looked troubled and after browsing through several catalogues, she turned to me and asked,"what band does she sing with"?.
I left the shop and went ...

Forest Hill & Sydenham’s “Pussy Butcher”
During the Twenties and Thirties (and maybe earlier) the feline population of the area was served with the luxury of a regular daily delivery of an evening meal from the “Pussy Butcher”, as he liked to be called. In fact one could hear his call of “Pussy ...

Sydenham in the twenties.
Saturday was a great favourite for us kids. No getting up early to prepare for school, but one could enjoy a lay-in if parents allowed us such luxuries. Saturday meant freedom, one could do as one liked (after any domestic chores at home, of course.) but what did we do? By ...

Back in the twenties and thirties, children did not have the selection of toys to play with, as today’s kids have. Apart from Christmas and Birthdays, there was no celebration to justify the giving of presents. In consequence, shops did not stock such a variety off costly items for he amusement of ...

Thanks for all your kind wishes. I am back home but a bit groggy! But here goes.....

Sydenham in the Twenties

To the many well-wishers who have so kindly commiserated with my incarceration in hospital, over the last few weeks, I send my best wishes and thanks so much for your messages.
Your wishes ...

In answer to the question by Sydeman, the pub opposite Peter Pans Pool, in the twenties and thirties was called the Green Man, and was a meeting place for the Greenwich Motercycle club.
I cannot recall a cinema in that area, the nearest being the "Splendid" on the corner of Downham Way and Bromley ...

Steve,
Very interesting map, have you one of burghill Road showing its early development?
It would appear to me that the Lodge stood where the Library stands today.
I well remember when a number 75 bus skidded and demolished Charley Clarks grocery store opposite the library in the late 20's . A ...

Many thanks for the birthday wishes and encouraging remarks about my memories,
For your information, I was given a wonderful day in the company of my family and, thanks to “SKYPE” I was able to see and hear family members in Bristol.
It has made me realise the vast changes that have taken place in ...

The big freeze in Sydenham.1947

During the period 1920 to 1960, the town was subjected to many spells of arctic conditions, none of which compared with the one that hit us during the winter of 1946/7. It must be appreciated that at this time, the country was trying to recover from the drastic ...

Christmas as I remember it.

To recall this period in time it must be remembered that very few houses were supplied with electricity in the early twenties; Gas, paraffin and coal were the main sources of power. There were very few motor vehicles on the streets and, of course, there was no ...

In reply to Chelsey,
My memory of the entrances to the Palace, were, as shown in Konqi’s drawing, but I can add further information
As I remember it from the thirties.
North Tower, entrance exactly as depicted in his plan.
Turn-styles, Yes these were found at all entrances as well as booking office ...

Members of my family have been researching the family tree and have discovered a great uncle of my wife, who it appears in the census as being employed as a "Deep Sea Diver" at the C.P. in the early days of the Palace. (pre W.W.1).

We are very curious as to what tasks he would have been employed to ...

To fully appreciate what it was like to be resident in Sydenham in the Twenties and Thirties, it is imperative that one understands a little of the general living conditions of the period, so different from what we are accustomed to in this digital age,.
Residents of the town were confined mostly ...

One of my outstansding memories of the C.P. was the model of the Colleseum, which used to fascinate me and I always had a desire to see the actual building. I was about to make a trip into Rome whilst serving in Italy during WW2 but on the day, I was suddenly posted home. Just my luck.

Ulyssis
Dare I suggest the poles you make reference to are probably telephone poles.
Incidentally, i suggested in a reply to the question relating to the subject that I always maintained that one of the best views from afar, was from the railway bridge just south of New Beckenham station, especially ...

On second thoughts, I feel certain that the building on the end of the down platform originally would have housed a signal box, as the structure is very similar to the signal box that used to stand over the footpath leading to Forest Hill station, the arched alcoves in the supporting wall are common ...