where's this?

[will greenwood]

This is described as 'May 7th 1954, Catford'
any ideas where?

[Rebelmc]

Total guess, but could be 'Peter Pan's Pool' a permanent children's amusement park that's now occupied by Sainsburys Homebase on the junction of Bromley Road and Beckenham Hill Road.

[will greenwood]

yes Rebelmc, i think youre right
a few people have said that..it has changed so much.
I used to go there in the 70's when it was a truly grimy 'fairground'
thanks

[Steve Grindlay]

I think this is the Peter Pan Playground, in Bromley Road somewhere near Homebase. The mill pond in front of Homebase was known as Peter Pan's Pool. There is another picture of the playground here.

[Steve Grindlay]

Oh, dear, I should have checked before posting. Anyway, at least we agree. The Cedar of Lebanon, behind the bus, is still there.

[Rebelmc]

I thought it must be, I couldn't think of another area with those railings and set below road level, plus, the more I think about it, I reckon I've been on that train, before we moved to this area, must've been about 1969.

I'd forgotten it's proper name was 'Playground', for some reason I've always known it as 'Pool', probably because that was what made it a local landmark.

I agree Will, it was pretty grim when I used to go there regularly, during Summer holidays around '76/'77, but I seem to recall it was also very cheap and it had dodgems, probably where I first began to hone my driving skills

Nice touch to see the remnants of 'Don't stand up' painted on the wall, presumably to stop you from braining yourself on the overhanging tree branch; these days you'd be strapped in and some HSE rule would probably require you to wear a crash helmet!

[nannyjacks]

definitely Peter Pans Pool I lived on the boarders of Blackheath and lewisham and my two brothers and I would collect jam jars and take them in his wheeled cart to the Robertsons jam Factory along the bromley catford road .We would get 1d for each one from the man at the back of the factory and would carry on walking along to to Pool and it cost 3d to get in and you could ride alomost all day on the things.mainly the most popular things were the three wheeler bikes and the canoes in the pool .The pool was only about 2 ft deep so if you fell out you couldn't hurt yourself. This was around 1950 no 'elf 'n' safty blokes to deter sruffy kids from their enjoyment .As most of the time kids played on bombsites for their playgrounds Peter pans pool was our 'Disneyland' and all for 3d.We had to walk home again afterwards as you never caught a bus anywhere as walking was free.
Strangely enough years later 1957 when my middle brother had not long left school he was sent by the unenployment centre for a job there and he had to spend most of his time in waders cleaning out the rubbish that had been dropped into the pool.only lasted while it was summertime workers got laid of in September when the kids went back to school. I think his wages then were about £3.00 a week

[Wolfie]

I always knew the place as Peter Pan's Pool.

I used to be taken there in the late 50s/early 60s. As we lived in Lower Sydenham it was not too much of a walk cutting through the Southend estates.

My main memory involves battery powered model cars - 3 laps around an oval circuit for 6d.

Of course the place could not compete with a trip to Battersea Funfair, but then Battersea was not within easy walking distance!

[austin seven]

Greetings from Wales. I was brought up and dodged the Doodle Bugs in nearby Brangbourne Road during WW2. Later on I well remember being sent to Sunday School at the Hall opposite Peter Pan's Pool. In fact my mates and I never ended up where we were sent but used the 3d for the "Collection" to hire a canoe on the Pool . You could fit 2 in a canoe for 3d so we could play Indians and chase another canoe or splash the posh types in their 6d motor boats. The fatal error was, when making a hasty getaway, to both plunge your paddles in on the same side of the canoe energetically at the same time. This would inevitably turn the canoe over and led to the impossibility of explaining how it happened - at Sunday School - to Mum ! The only time we had to attend Sunday School was on Palm Sunday to collect A Palm Cross ! Happy Days ! Incidentally the Bus Conductors always yelled out "Peter Pan's Pool" at the Stop. I would also like to hear from anyone who used to frequent the Splendid Cinema over the road. I used to go there almost every week and as a result have become a Cinema Anorak !

[leenewham]

So what happened to it?

[Rebelmc]

It became progressively less patronised, more run down and, eventually, they built a Homebase on it, sometime in the early 80s.

[sydeman]

Where and what happened to the cinema, which is mentioned as being over the road? I do not remember seeing a building opposite which could fit the description. Is'nt there the old boarded up pub opposite?

[regoneil]

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 Road, apart from those at Rushey Green.
The playground was a favourite haunt of kids like me who would collect jamjars to redeem them at the local grocers for one penny per 2lb jar.
Six jars would finance an afternoon at Peter Pans Pool.
Happy days.

[MartinH]

I am sure that, on a previous post, Falkor posted a picture of a cinema that stood on the site where the petrol station is in Bromley road towards Downham way.

[Steve Grindlay]

There was a cinema on Bromley Road, where you describe MartinH, called The Splendid. It was closed and demolished in 1958 after, according to a local newspaper, "Teddy boys" had slashed and broken the seats. I can't find Falkor's picture, so this is the best I can do:

[MartinH]

Yes, that's the picture. Thanks Steve.