Cator Road - looking for old images......

[charlieandpip]

Hello!

I've been hunting for photos of Cator Road in Sydenham for a while now.

As it is a Conservation Area I am hoping that there is some photographic evidence of its history...... can anyone out there help?!

Thanks
Charlie

[Falkor]

I'd imagine Ian @ http://www.beckenhamhistory.co.uk/ is the man to ask about that area! I would first check what the road looked like on old maps, since it might not have much history; I will have a look for you... You see, some roads just have not changed in 100 years, or were plain fields before. Whereas, if you pick a road like Wells Park Road in Upper Sydenham then we're talking 3+ different waves of development.

[charlieandpip]

Thanks Falkor.... what an amazing site but unfortunately no sign of Cator Road.

Cator Road has been unchanged (more or less) since the 1880s (I think) so fingers crossed there will be something somewhere. The challenge is that the road straddles the boundary between Lewisham and Bromley (and previously Beckenham) so hard to pinpoint in histories.....

[Falkor]

1843/1860s: nothing there, except *maybe* a trackway. It's very difficult for me to interpret the lanes in-between Newlands Park/Penge Lane and Kent House Road. It would be interesting to find out which farm(s) the land around Cator Road area belonged to...
(Hardings Lane Tollgate wasn't far off)

1894: church + houses (road well formed).

I've not got any maps to show order of development or what happened in-between.

I will have a look for some photos, but doubt whether I'll find any... maybe you get one of Trewsbury and that's it. You should try both Lewisham and Bromley Local Studies.

[Falkor]

No photos of Cator Road at LMA under Bromley or Lewisham boroughs... still checking...

[Steve Grindlay]

Here are a couple of pictures of Cator Road:



I haven't researched them, but I think the first is looking south towards Lennard Road while the second is towards the north. Neither is terribly informative; clearly, Cator Road residents valued their privacy.

[charlieandpip]

These are great - thanks Steve.......